NeuroBlade Online
by Krawling Khaos
Summary: Two years have passed since the VRMMO genre was born. It's creator, Akihiko Kayaba, decided to make a game inspired by his love of science fiction and cyberpunk. That game is NeuroBlade Online , and teamwork is key to victory... especially when failure is incredibly fatal. How many will live till the end? Takes place in an AU where SAO isn't a Death Game. *SPOILERS IN REVIEWS*
1. Act 1 - Chapter 1: Activation Sequence

It should go without saying, but I don't own Sword Art Online or any of the characters unless stated otherwise. It belong to Kawahara Reki, ASCII Media Works, and A-1 Pictures. I merely own all things to do with the game used in the story, «NeuroBlade Online».

[==={|==============|}===]

"_Electronics stores all over Japan are bustling with an insane amount of activity on this ordinary Sunday afternoon. The reason for this sudden public interest is due to the release of the long anticipated «NerveGear» successor, the «NAViGATOR». This new «FullDive» device has taken the Japanese gaming community by storm, with the merger of the two titans in Virtual Reality simulation, «ARGUS Software» and «RECTO Process Incorporated» back in July of last year. «ARGUS-RECTO Softworks», the company that produced the «NAVi», had shown the world the device's power in a live demonstration at the «Tokyo Game Show» earlier this year, showing a game developed by «Sword Art Online» creator, Akihiko Kayaba. The game, now known as «NeuroBlade Online», is said to be a sci-fi and cyberpunk themed «VRMMORPG», and would feature a completely new engine developed by Akihiko-san and his new in-house development team, «WiRED»."_

As per usual, the news stream contained no details about the device and game in question that he didn't already know. With a quick click, he closed the tab containing the stream, and checked his clock, anticipation welling up with each passing second.

_11:50 AM_

"_Only ten more minutes…_" the boy thought to himself. Sighing, he checked his email one final time. His inbox was lit up by dozens of messages informing him of forum posts on threads he was an active member of. They were threads that dedicated themselves to talking about whichever «VRMMO» was the current highlight in the gaming community. He had been a member for as long as the genre existed, and was one of the lucky ones who had gotten to play the beta of the genre's progenitor, «Sword Art Online».

In fact, because he was able to land the final blow on the 100th floor boss of «SAO», he had been invited to participate in the week-long closed beta event held this past summer. He was a part of a selective 200 people who spent a week in an executive suite rented by «WiRED», the game developers, to play the beta. It was truly an experience that he would likely never forget.

_11:55 AM_

As he was about to close his email client, he noticed he had an email from one of players he had met in the beta. To be specific, it was his "partner" for that week. While he had not met them in real life, he trusted them to a great extent. They had each other's backs, and even after the week was over, they had decided to keep in contact. Smiling, he opened the email and read it to himself, reading the last sentence aloud.

"'_I'll see you in our usual meet-up place in Sector 0…'_" Chuckling as he finished the message, he closed the client, not bothering to type up a response. "See you there… partner."

_11:58 AM_

He moved from his computer over to his bed, and picked up the device that he had gotten in the mail that morning: The «NAViGATOR». The device wasn't much to look at, as it shared a similar aesthetic to that of the «NerveGear», if only a little sleeker in design. Slipping it onto his head, he found it to be much more comfortable to wear than its predecessor. It wasn't like comfort was a big deal, but still, it was nice.

He had already completed the calibration process, so that wasn't an issue; he would be able to dive right into the game. Lying down, he looked at the built in clock, and watched is as the seconds ticked away.

_11:59 AM_

_Tick…_

_Tock…_

_Tick…_

_Tock…_

_12:00 PM_

This was it; it was time to return to _that_ world.

"LINK START!"

In mere moments, he was at the all too familiar log-in screen. Unlike the login process of «SAO», which kept his beta information, he had to create his account from scratch. This was due to the nature of the beta period, and it couldn't be carried over as a result. As for why he couldn't import his character from «SAO», it was due to the fact the engine was completely different. Besides, even if he could he wouldn't. He had built his «SAO Avatar» to a ridiculous level, and if that carried over, the challenge of the game he had experienced during the beta would be non-existent. He didn't want an unfair advantage in this game.

_~Please enter your player information to proceed to the character creation menus.~_

Family Name: Kirigaya

First Name: Kazuto

Desired Username: «Kirito»

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Class: «Phase Knight»

~_User Data Accepted. ~_

He smiled, and was brought to a very elaborate character creation interface, complete with a multitude of sliders and dials. Tinkering with it for a little while, he ended up creating a character much like his «SAO Avatar», which bore a typical "RPG Hero" look to it, with a few subtle tweaks. The end result was a man wearing a simple set of black «Beginner's Gear», complete with the cybernetic features found in the «Phase Knight» class build. Cybernetic arms, and some cybernetically enhanced legs for the speed the class was known for during the beta.

~_Are these settings acceptable? ~_

"Yes."

_~Acknowledged, please step into the circle of light now present in front of you. ~_

Nodding, the boy now known as «Kirito» stepped into the circle. The light then flared brightly, blinding him for a few seconds. Moments later, his vision returned to him, and he was presented with the flourishing cyberpunk cityscape that he remembered.

_~Welcome to NeuroBlade Online, «Kirito». ~_

The voice chimed into his ear while he took in the sight of the ever awe-inducing landscape of the city. Memories of his time in this city, such as retrieving quests and buying gear filled his head as he took a deep breath. He was happy to finally be back.

"I see that «Origin City» hasn't changed much since I was last here," he said to himself, chuckling for no real reason at all. Not wanting to waste any more time, and having a grasp on the game without the need of the «Tutorial», he broke off into a dash to go meet his partner from the beta.

[==={|======= «NeuroBlade Online» =======|}===]

A «Sword Art Online» Alternate Universe Fanfiction

Written by: The Krawling KhaoS

Act 1

[==={|======= Chapter 1: Activation Sequence =======|}===]

The keys of her keyboard clattered frantically as she waited for the software to finish installing, each passing second was more irritating than the last. To think she had to cancel her plans for the day because something like _this_ had intrigued her. Then again, the only reason she was here was because she wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. Well, perhaps that wasn't the only reason she was here.

It had been her curiosity that kept her going with this hobby, despite all of the things she _should_ be doing with her time. It was the initial pursuit of knowledge that had brought her here, and that was enough to break the proverbial ice. She was brought into the allure of this kind of thing by her desire to learn more about the worlds that entranced her brother.

And boy, did she learn why. Just over a year ago, 15-year-old Kirigaya Suguha made contact with a rather meek boy in her class; the boy's name was Nagata Shinichi. He was the one who introduced her to the world of «Alfheim Online»; a world that she fell more in love with the more time she spent in it. The system based on actual skill was easy enough for her to get used to, and it allowed for her to balance her kendo and her time in the game. One thing that she particularly liked about the game was the «Flight» system. She loved feeling that flying gave her, and the strength that being «Leafa», her in-game «Sylph» persona, brought with it. Heck, she even got better at kendo through the combat in the game. That was the last thing she expected to gain from the experience.

So when she heard that her brother had gotten invited to the beta test for a new «VRMMO», she became interested. She had been trying to figure out how to approach her brother about her experiences in the virtual world, and this game seemed like the ideal way of doing so. So when the pre-orders went up for it, she instantly put the money forward and waited patiently for the release. This was a rather spontaneous decision, as she was originally planning to use that money on a shinai. She figured trying to close the gap between her brother and her was more important than kendo. It allowed her to believe she made the right decision. There were times where she regretted it, but in the end, she knew it would be worth it.

The only thing that was disappointing about the game was the lack of the «Flight» system she loved from «ALO». Then again, she should have expected that the game would lack one, given it wasn't so much a fantasy title, but rather, it was a sci-fi oriented title. Sighing, she finished the last bit of her homework, not wanting to fall behind in her studies because of a videogame. She figured her brother was probably neglecting his in favor of starting the game the moment it launched. Upon closing her internet browser, she got notification that the game had indeed finished installing.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, pushing her fist into the air. Before long, she was lying on her bed, with the «NAViGATOR» placed firmly on her head. "Here I come, Onii-chan…"

Checking the clock, she found that it had been a half hour since the game had officially launched. She knew her brother was probably having a heck of a time grinding up his character. Given how excited he was when his copy came in the mail, she knew he was going to be logged on all night. Well, until dinner at the very least.

Not wanting to delay this any longer, she spoke out the two 'magic words' that formed the "first spell" she had cast as a member of the virtual gaming world.

"LINK START!"

After a few seconds passed, she found herself standing on what she figured was the login point for all new players. Given that around 99% of the players were new to this particular game, they were likely all greeted with this. A virtual keyboard appeared in front of her.

~_Please enter your player information to proceed to the character creation menus. ~_

Family Name: Kirigaya

First Name: Suguha

Desired Username: «Leafa»

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Class: «Phase Knight»

_~User Data Accepted. ~_

Suguha wasted no time calibrating her character's appearance to resemble her «ALO Avatar». After a few minutes of fiddling with the dials and sliders, she was presented with a rather acceptable rendition of whom she knew as her alternate self: «Leafa».

_~Are these settings acceptable? ~_

"Yes."

_~Acknowledged, please step into the circle of light now present in front of you. ~_

Suguha did as instructed by the system, closed her eyes, and felt herself be warped into a world that was nothing like the worlds she knew. Upon opening her eyes, she was no longer the little sister of Kirigaya Kazuto, nor was she a rising star in the world of kendo that was Kirigaya Suguha. No, she was now «Leafa», a former resident of the world of «Alfheim Online».

_~Welcome to NeuroBlade Online, «Leafa».~_

Taking her first step off the entry platform, Leafa took in her surroundings. They were bright and colorful, but not in the magical way «ALO» was. No, this brightness was far more realistic. The post-modern look of the city reminded her of the center of Tokyo late at night, but this was during the day. The world was far more mesmerizing than she had initially thought; it was breathtaking in different kind of way than «Alfheim Online» was.

"_Now… I think I'll go check out the tutorial…_" she thought. "_I don't want to be killed by some weak mob because I don't understand the mechanics of the game. If Onii-chan found out, he'd probably laugh at me... he can be such a jerk sometimes._"

[==={|==============|}===]

Clicking her door shut, the 17-year-old Yuuki Asuna sighed a breath of relief. Finally, she could have a day to herself; a day without the hustle and bustle of being the daughter of a well-off family. A day away from all of the fancy prep-schools; from the excess number of duties she needed to perform to 'keep their family's good reputation.' This often equated to shaking the hands of strangers at some large get together, or studying to ace the next high school test.

As she was approaching the time of her life when she needed to focus on acing entry exams for college, mostly to appease her mother, she had little time where she could revel in her hobbies. Hell, since she had started high school, the pressure on her from her mother became more and more unbearable. So as a small act of defiance, she tried out her brother's copy of the «VRMMO» that changed her life, «Sword Art Online». In actuality, it didn't really _change_ much about her life, but it made her a lot feel better. She could take her ever building stress out on some mobs, or other players that decided it would be fun to piss her off.

Playing a videogame with her free time was not something her mother condoned, but she did little to stop her daughter from doing it. Asuna had told her that she was playing the game to simply relieve stress, and she accepted the excuse. However, the more she played, the more she came to really _enjoy_ the virtual reality she had created. She felt happy playing «SAO»; she felt more _free_ in the confines of a virtual space then she did in actual reality. She sometimes wished she could _live_ inside the digital world, but denounced the idea as quickly as she thought it up; she knew that being in a digital world would be fun, but impractical. That, and she didn't want to feel like some character in a movie from the turn of the millennia.

Normally, when she had a day to herself like this, she would simply slide into some more comfortable clothes, slip on the «NerveGear», and log into «SAO». She would then proceed to level up once or twice, finish a handful of quests, and possibly fight a boss with the other players. Of course, these bosses were usually «Event Bosses», as the 100 bosses of «Aincrad» had been slain a little over 2 months ago.

Today was different however, and it was most certainly a _good_ different; today was a fresh start in a new world. Asuna had been looking forward to this day for a good while, probably more than the average "hardcore gamer". Indeed, today was the launch of the highly anticipated «NeuroBlade Online», which was something she had found a little odd. It wasn't the game that she found odd; rather, it was the fact the game's launch was on a Sunday. Her father had told her this was due to the fact that it was a brand new game on a brand new platform, and as such, they wanted to capitalize on the potential buyers not buying anything else while they were out. She found this entire idea silly, but it proved effective in a way. Sunday was normally just the end of a week, but _this_ particular Sunday was special because of the release of the «NAViGATOR» and the game that came with it: «NeuroBlade Online».

As such, Asuna had gotten her copy the moment she woke up, thanks to her father's position in «ARS». In fact, it had all been installed while she had been out with her family to see her brother and his new wife on their honeymoon. So once she had changed into something far more comfortable than the ritzy she for wore for the occasion, she slid the brand new «FullDive» device onto her head, pausing a moment to get used to the feeling of _newness_ it had. It felt strange to be using a new device after using a «NerveGear» for so long, but seeing as the «NAViGATOR» had once been called the «NerveGear II», it didn't feel too strange. It was oddly similar, yet different. The feeling confused her slightly, but she didn't let it bother her.

Lying down, she listened to the device spring to life. After what felt like a microsecond, the VR helmet was ready, and so was she.

"LINK START!"

Finding herself on the traditional login area, she wasted no time in entering her information.

~_Please enter your player information to proceed to the character creation menus. ~_

Family Name: Yuuki

First Name: Asuna

Desired Username: «Asuna»

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Class: «Phase Knight»

_~User Data Accepted. ~_

She then spent a decent amount of time tweaking the model of her «Avatar», before hitting the «Confirm» button, satisfied with the results.

_~Are these settings acceptable? ~_

"Yes."

_~Acknowledged, please step into the circle of light now present in front of you. ~_

After doing so, and being temporarily blinded, Asuna found herself standing on what she assumed was the «Entry Platform». She was immediately intrigued by the unique style the game had. The mix of gritty realism and bright colors almost sounded insane to the part of her brain that had grown fond of the scenery that the world of «Aincrad» had offered. However, much to her own surprise, she liked the way it looked. It was unique in comparison to most «VRMMO» worlds; it had a level of charm that had been woven in the metaphorical fabric of this reality.

_~Welcome to NeuroBlade Online, «Asuna».~_

Looking down at herself, taking note of the robotic joints she now had. Interestingly enough, when she touched her two metal hands together, she found she could still _feel_ with them. Sure, there was no fleshy feeling, but the metal was oddly warm, despite being completely synthetic in the context of the game's world. She figured the creators of the game did this as to not make people feel _off_ when they logged out. Since these worlds were being projected into your brain, the lack of virtual nerves in a metal limb could cause negative effects on the body in real life, such as loss of motor non-vital motor functions. This was often called «Temporary Motor Dysfunction» by doctors who often dealt with cases attached to other «VRMMOs»

"Still, it's going to take some getting used to," she commented aloud. Stretching her mechanical muscles, she decided to check out the tutorial. She hadn't done so in «SAO», and as a result, she was lost as to what to do for a good month; that was certainly an experience she didn't want to relive in this game. That was especially the case if the game was as hard as she had heard online.

"_I wonder if the «Black Swordsman of Aincrad» is here...?"_ she thought to herself, walking out of the central plaza. He was the player who had landed the last strike on the final boss of «SAO», and was supposedly given an invitation to the beta. She hadn't personally met him outside of the occasional times she went to fight a «Floor Boss» with her guild, but she nevertheless wondered if he was here in this world right now. _I wonder if I'll run into him? Probably not... oh well."_

[==={|==============|}===]

_Kirito,_

_As I write this, it's about 11:40 in the morning, so the game will officially launch in about 20 minutes. I can't really tell you how strange it is for me to actually look forward to meeting a person who is almost a complete stranger in a videogame, but I trust you will take my word for it. I remember the time we partied together in the beta, and I'm grateful for how willing you were to partner with me back then._

_I don't really know what else to say, but I figured that we could meet up and continue our "partnership" in-game. I'm usually alone for these kinds of things, but given the game's difficulty, I figured a fellow 'lone wolf' such as yourself would be okay partying with me. If you don't want to, then I have no qualms finding someone else. Of course, I want to work with one I can trust with my life, and you are the most qualified. So with that said, I have spent about 12 or so minutes typing this message, and will likely spend another few minutes proofreading it. I guess the fact I have an online acquaintance is still new to me, and I want it to work out as well as it can._

_I'll see you in our usual meet-up place in Sector 0._

_Sinon_

After reading it over, Asada Shino grimaced. She wasn't completely satisfied with the way she worded things, but given that it took her as long as it did to write the email in the first place, she figured she should just leave it as is and send it. She wished she had more time to make the message contained in the email look more professional, but if she didn't send it now, he would more than likely miss it.

For Shino, having an online friend was something she didn't really expect to have for a while. She was still having trouble making friends in real life, having only one real friend to fall back on. Sure, their relationship may not yet be that of 'friends', but still, she figured that was the best way to word it. She found it inconvenient to refer to him as 'her partner from the beta,' and as such, simply started calling him her 'friend.' While the term 'acquaintance' was a far more fitting term, she sort of liked the idea of having another 'friend' around her age, even if they only knew each other online. From what she had read, online friendships were not uncommon, and often lead to lifelong friendships. Of course, going by information on the internet on the subject wasn't the smartest idea.

A part of her wanted to add the phrase '_Maybe some time this week we can meet up in real life and do something?_' into her message, but she ultimately decided against it. She had only really known Kirito for about 2 months, so she didn't know if she was mentally prepared for the act of meeting an online 'friend' in real life. There was also the question "what if he knew about the _incident_ in her past?" that held her back from trying to meet up in real life. How would he react upon learning about that fateful day in the post office? She found herself asking this question every time she emailed Kirito, wondering if she should bring it up at all. Everytime she thought of telling him about it, she backed down at the last minute; the fear of being judged for her actions back then holding her back.

She had also considered inviting him to play «Gun Gale Online» with her at some point, but decided against it as well, but for a more practical reason. They met through the beta for «NeuroBlade Online», and as such, it was only logical that they partied up together in «NBO» instead of «GGO», or the game he played regularly, «Sword Art Online». That, and she no competent ability with close range weapons; she was far more experienced with ranged weapons, as she played a «Sniper» build in «GGO». She had heard recently that «SAO» had apparently recently made bows usable, as the game had long since been cleared. As for him playing «GGO», she figured he would not last long with a simple «Energy Sword» in a world of guns.

Glancing over at her desktop clock once again, she noticed the time was now _11:54 AM_, and hit the send button so Kirito would see it before he went into 'Gaming Mode.'

"Knowing him, I likely won't get a reply... Well, I did tell him where he could find me once he logs on," she said to herself, placing the «NAVi» on her head. She lied down and made herself as comfortable as possible, despite the fact that she would not really notice until she logged out. Still, she liked to think it helped with the overall «FullDive» experience. Infact, she remembered reading that the more comfortable you are, the better the flow of information was.

As the minutes ticked away into seconds, she thought about how she and Kirito would go about their first day back in the world they had first met.

"_We'll probably grind for a while before tackling a simple quest… not that I mind at all._"

She watched as the clock ticked to twelve, and smirked. This was it, the moment she had to be ready for, lest she wanted to be left in her 'partner's' dust.

"LINK START!"

As the device whisked her mind away to the typical login and character creation menus, she felt her soul be coated in a thin layer of frost. Shino began to slip into the mind of her more cold and calculating half, her digital persona, «Sinon». As this game had access to a number of long range weapons, she was able to click into her ice-sniper mind incredibly easily.

~_Please enter your player information to proceed to the character creation menus. ~_

Family Name: Asada

First Name: Shino

Desired Username: «Sinon»

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Class: «Arc Ranger»

_~User Data Accepted. ~_

As she had remembered all of her settings from the beta, she had spent less time in the character creation process than most other players, and was able to log-in faster.

_~Are these settings acceptable? ~_

"Yes."

_~Acknowledged, please step into the circle of light now present in front of you. ~_

Doing as instructed, the girl that now donned the name «Sinon» stepped into the light circle, and was whisked away to the world she had visited some time ago.

_~Welcome to NeuroBlade Online, «Sinon».~_

As a result of her memory allowing her to speed through the character creation menus, the world was slightly less populated than it would be in due time. She took this opportunity to get a head start on her trip to the usual meeting place for both her and Kirito: a little café. She decided to pass the time by seeing if they had fixed the problem they had with the taste simulation coding. As she recalled, the tea she had received during the beta had tasted like what she could only describe as 'burnt grass and mustard.' The phrasing seemed a little weird in her mind, but it definitely fit the tea that day. As a result, she had avoided drinking tea throughout the beta period, and merely logged off to make her own. At least then it wouldn't have such a bizarre taste.

"I wonder how many «Arc Rangers» there are going to be? People likely will the «Class Descriptions», but they'll probably think they hold the advantage because of their range... despite the fact that isn't the case." she mumbled to herself as she walked to the café. It was true though, despite the fact the class had an affinity for long-ranged weapons, the class was simply as balanced as any other. It only posed a few advantages against the other classes, but it also had it's own set of disadvantages the other classes could exploit. This information was also readily available on the forums that talked about the game, and the average gamer could use it as they saw fit. Of course, this didn't mean that everyone would use it, and some may not realize that the class had such disadvantages until they lose in a «PvP» based event.

Upon reaching the café, she decided to wait for Kirito rather than try the tea. She'd rather wait for him to try his first before sipping at hers, and knowing him, it wouldn't be that long of a wait. Then again, she doubted he wanted to waste time on this sort of thing when the game just started.

The café bore the name «Scapegoat Café», which was an odd name for a café.Then again, this was a world that was full of bizarre names, and given it's science fiction themes, it made sense to have odd names for things. She took a seat at one of the tables outside the café, and waited for her 'partner' to arrive.

[==={|==============|}===]

"Congratulations on a complete recovery, Konno-san," the nurse said, smiling at the young girl who sat on the edge of the bed in front of her. The girl, Konno Yuuki, up until about a month ago, had been listed as a 'terminal patient.' Her family, due to a contaminated batch of blood during a transfusion for her mother, had been infected with the deadly Human Immunodeficiency Virus, commonly referred to as HIV, which developed into Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, better known as HIV/AIDS. A disease that has killed millions had affected such a innocent soul from the moment she was born. It was truly devastating, and it had made her life rather difficult from the moment she was born.

Between the countless medical expenses to treat her family, and the loss of her parents and sister, Yuuki had seen nothing but death stem from her dire situation. All seemed relatively hopeless for the young girl, but she never gave up. She kept wishing upon shooting stars, wishing that she could get better.

And then salvation came in the form of an experimental treatment method. It had been in development since she was about two years old, and it was not a guaranteed success. They said it had a fifty-fifty chance of success, and that they had yet to test it on a human being. The doctors told her that it had been able to kill the virus in a controlled environment, and that they have been looking for a person who was willing to test it. Not having much to lose, she accepted the offer, and was put into a program.

The program's name was «Isao», named after the greek goddess of cures and remedies. It involved several types of injections and an "incubation" period for it to take affect. During this time, she was placed in the experimental «MediCuboid», a modified form of the «NerveGear» device known for its «FullDive» capabilities. The goal of the procedure was to allow for the injections to force the Immune System to neutralize and draw out the genetic mutation that allowed for the AIDs to form so they could kill it at the root through radiation, much like a cancer patient.

There were two downsides to this treatment however. The first of which is that you will essentially be in a controlled medical coma for 16 months, so you will require physiotherapy once it's complete. That was the lesser of two evils in the long run.

The second downside is that there was a chance that it could make the condition worse by targeting the wrong parts of the immune system. This would cause the virus to advance and due to the physically weakened state of the person, it would more than likely end their life within several days.

Thankfully, in the case of Yuuki, she was one of the lucky ones to not face the second downside of the process, and successfully made it through the program in one piece. It had left her sore for a while, but that didn't stop her from successfully recovering.

At the ripe age of 14, she had beat one of the world's deadliest illnesses, and it was all thanks to the miracles of modern science. She thanked all the stars she wished upon for this second chance at life, and she knew she wasn't going to waste it.

"Thank you for everything Nurse Aki," Yuuki said, beaming at the nurse that had been involved in her treatment process from the day she started the program that saved her life. Aki had been a kind woman in the short time that Yuuki had known her, and was grateful for her support throughout her physiotherapy. "It feels good to finally be cleared to leave the hospital after so long!"

"Your welcome Yuuki, I'm glad to have been helpful to you," the nurse said, smiling at the girl's kind words. She had been a good patient, and Aki was genuinely happy to see the girl in good health at long last. "It must feel great to finally be able to leave the hospital."

"Yup! I'm pretty thrilled actually... although I wish Nee-san and my parents could leave with me..." Yuuki said with a slight frown. The sad fact that her parents had unfortunately passed away several years ago, and her sister had died around the time Yuuki started the program that ultimately cured her of her then terminal illness weighed heavy on the young girl's mind. "But... they're watching me from heaven, so it's like they're here with me right now!"

"That's right, and they must be very proud of your recovery."

Yuuki looked over at the clock, and noticed it was nearly noon. According to the doctors, she was going to be living with her Aunt and Uncle, whom were listed as her next of kin by her parents should they pass on. She had remembered meeting them when she was younger, and they were incredibly nice from what she remembered, so she didn't mind living with them. If she remembered correctly, they couldn't have children of their own. She could imagine how happy the idea of having a child in their life would make them, even if it technically wasn't there's. They were running a little late, but she didn't mind the wait.

"They'll be here soon, Yuuki. They said they would be a little late, but couldn't wait to bring you home."

Home. That was a word that she almost forgot the meaning of. For the past few years, the hospital had been her 'home,' which was something that came with the territory of being terminally ill. Now that she was no longer in any danger, she could finally have a 'home' of her own again. Even if it was with family members that were more or less strangers, but that didn't matter. She had a home, and that was all that mattered to her.

As the clock struck noon, another nurse walked into the room, and with her were two adults that looked vaguely familiar. They were the people who had stepped up to take care of her. Yuuki smiled brightly at them, with them smiling back at her.

"Hello Yuuki... its been about seven years since we last saw you. I'm your Uncle Jiro, and this is your Aunt Manami. We're going to be taking care of you starting today," the man said, his arms splayed open to offer a hug, which Yuuki greatly accepted. She hugged him tightly, with Manami joining them for a group hug. Yuuki had almost forgotten that she hadn't had a hug like this in years, and she was incredibly happy. "We have something for you back home, to celebrate your recovery."

"You do?" Yuuki asked, eyes on the verge of tears. The joy of having a family was something she missed, and was ever grateful to the stars that granted her wish to get better. The fact that they had got her a gift to say both 'congratulations,' and 'welcome home' was something she didn't expect, but she was never the less grateful.

"Yes, we got you something we're sure you're going to love," her Aunt said, smiling at the happy young girl. Yuuki's face lit up like a child's on Christmas day as she hugged them again.

After Yuuki's new guardian's signed her release forms, and a short car ride, Yuuki was in her new home, in her room. It was somewhat bare in terms of decoration, but the one thing that stood out was the new looking computer on the nice maplewood desk. Attached to it with a cable was a headset that she remembered reading about the other day. It was the new «NAViGATOR», the device that was currently all the rage, because it was brand new, and there was a new game bundled with it. She quickly ran over to her bed and slipped it on, so eager that she forgot to go and thank her guardians for the gift.

It felt strange, wearing a helmet like this again. It reminded her of the time she first logged into the virtual world through the «MediCuboid», and how she went «Game Hopping» with some other terminally ill kids. It was a fun experience, and now, she got to try something that wasn't there to help her get better, but rather something that would bring her enjoyment.

She ran through the calibration tests as instructed, before laying on her bed, with the simple instruction "Say 'LINK START' to begin your diving experience." She wasted no time doing so.

"LINK START!"

A flurry of color and light filled her vision, before she found herself standing in a room with a keypad in front of her.

~_Please enter your player information to proceed to the character creation menus. ~_

Family Name: Konno

First Name: Yuuki

Desired Username: «Yuuki»

Gender: Female

Age: 14

Class: «Phase Knight»

_~User Data Accepted. ~_

Yuuki had entered everything as she saw fit for this game. She specifically chose the «Phase Knight» class due to the fact that it seemed like it was the easiest to understand. Most of the other games she had played involved her using a sword, so it was also the most logical choice, given the «Class Description».

After fiddling around with the sliders and dials of the character creator, she was left gaping in awe at her created metal arms were a feature she found to be incredibly strong and cool looking; she couldn't wait to begin using them as her own arms.

_~Are these settings acceptable? ~_

"Yup."

_~Acknowledged, please step into the circle of light now present in front of you. ~_

Glancing forward, she made note of the circle of light that was now present in front of her, just as the «System Voice» had told her. She did as instructed, and once again her vision filled with light as she felt herself being transported into the game's world. A few seconds later, she found her vision cleared, and she was left staring at a huge city scape that was full of lights, despite the fact it wasn't even dark yet.

_~Welcome to NeuroBlade Online, «Yuuki».~_

The system voice chimed in her head as she took in her surroundings.

"Wow... so pretty!" she said as she rushed forward, almost bumping into a girl as she did so. Careful not to intrude on someone else's first experience of the world, she stepped over to a less crowded spot as she looked around. She wondered how many players there were, since it was clear that the game had been up and running for a little while. "Well... I think I should head to the «Tutorial Area»... wherever that is."

Tinkering with the menus, which operated the same as the other games she had played in the past, she managed to find a map and where she was headed. With this information in mind, she dashed off in the direction of the tutorial, excited to be both out of the hospital and in this new world.

[==={|==============|}===]

As he ran through the streets of «Origin City», Kirito took in the sights and the simulated smells with a smile. It had been far too long since he had last played this game, and he really couldn't wait to get to grinding. It had been far too long since he had been able to grind with a goal in mind. Once «SAO» had been cleared, there was only the occasional «Event Boss», which took all the fun out of grinding. The fights were far easier than initial 100 bosses, and even the «Extra Boss» in the Labyrinth below «Starting City», which was on par with the «Final Boss» in terms of difficulty.

With all this in mind, Kirito was actually more the happy playing a new game, having to start from square one once again. Working his way through each «Sector» and «Zone» whilst grinding and completing quests would feel incredibly rewarding, a feeling he missed while playing «SAO» as of late. It was one of those games that lost it's challenge after it had been cleared, which was a huge disservice to it's devoted playerbase in his mind. Sure, the developers had moved on to make the game he was now playing, but it still made little sense to leave a game without any  
updates other than the «Event Bosses» on occasion.

He longed for that feeling of progress that had motivated him to become stronger in the past. Given this game's difficulty being much higher than «SAO's», it only made sense that the feeling he was longing for would return in full force.

The sights, sounds, and smells of this new world were a welcome change of pace for the «Black Swordsman», having grown tired of «SAO's» rather basic sensory algorithm. «NeuroBlade Online» was designed for a far more capable piece of hardware, and it really showed in the world's design.

It _looked _more realistic than the games developed on the «SEED» engine of past games. The feeling that this game created felt more like a "simulated dream" than prior «VR» titles, which was a huge improvement. Everything felt more vivid, more _alive_ in this world, despite the fact it was largely science fiction inspired. The contrast of character models and textures was far less noticeable, and everything seemed real. Sure, you could still tell this was a virtual world, since technology hasn't advanced to that point as of yet, but the upgrade was nice.

The feeling of his robotic arms felt both natural yet not. It moved and acted like a normal arm, as expected, but it also had it's own set of intricacies. While it acted as an arm, it was capable of more, as it wasn't made of flesh and bone. It could be upgraded by specialists, like the odd NPC or a player that had the «Manufacturing» skill. If a player wished for additional abilities for their robotic limbs and implants, they need only get the required items for the synthesis.

Kirito wondered what the true extent of upgrades were. In the beta, he remembered having a few done by an NPC in «Zone 3». It was an interesting feeling, having something inserted into your arm. «NBO» featured an advanced sensory algorithm, so the sensations that the player feels are more realistic. So having something being inserted into your metal arm feels like something is being shoved through the skin of your actual arm, and it was somewhat awkward. He often thought of it being a similar feeling to having surgery done on your arm. The only difference is there is no skin, so the it lacked the feeling of skin being parted.

He interrupted his own thoughts by realizing he was already at the café he and Sinon usually me up. Glancing at the table to the left of the door, he noticed his partner from the beta sitting there, waiting for him. He felt kind of bad for making her wait, but given that it was only about a quarter-after-noon, he didn't think she had been waiting long. At most she had been waiting for about five minutes.

"Hey," he greeting, waving slightly with his metal appendage. Taking note of his presence, she watched him take his usual seat across from her, getting himself comfortable in the chair. "Did you wait long?"

"Not really, I've only been here for about seven or so minutes," she replied, her ice cold eyes looking straight at his own. Kirito felt himself shiver, as if her eyes actually made him cold; no matter how many times he saw those eyes, he would always feel the frosty glare begin to freeze him in place. He wasn't sure if the thought excited him or not, but he didn't think now was the best time to be thinking about that. "I remembered all of my settings from the beta, so I didn't take too much time making my character."

"That makes sense, that's probably the most time consuming part of having to start from scratch," he said, standing up from his chair. He began to wonder why he even sat down in the first place, since he knew they wouldn't waste time sipping at coffee or tea when they could be grinding. "You ready to get to work?"

Sinon nodded, and stood from her chair. Opening her menu, she navigated through it until she came to the section specified for «Party Members». It was currently empty, but she was about to fix that. A few clicks later, a message opened up in front of Kirito.

_~«Sinon» would like to add you to her party. Will you accept her invitation?~_

Selecting the «Yes» option, he took note of his partner's «Health Points» gauge appearing just below his own on the simple heads up display. Along with her name and «HP» gauge, it displayed her current level and her class, which was represented by a little symbol that looked like a bow. As expected, she went with the «Arc Ranger» class, much like she had in the beta. She had told him in the beta she preferred long range classes, and it clearly showed.

Briefly navigating through his own menus for a moment, he opened his «Party Members» tab, and tapped her name. A brief description of her stats appeared, along with three buttons. These were labeled «Disband», «Track», and «Friend». Tapping the «Friend» button prompted him with another choice.

_~Would you like to send a friend request to «Sinon»?~_

Once again selecting the «Yes» button, he waited for her to confirm this on her end.

_~«Kirito» would like to be friends. Will you accept his request?~_

Tapping the «Yes» button, she watched as Kirito grinned a little, while she grinned herself. Normally, neither of them were the type to add anyone to their «Friend List», but given the nature of this game, it seemed convenient to do so.

"Alright, let's get going."

"Right," Sinon replied. The two of them head to the edge of the city to begin the long, arduous process of grinding. They had a long day ahead of them, and they needed to get started as soon as possible.

"Hey! You two!" a masculine voice called out, halting them in their tracks. Turning, Kirito and Sinon found themselves looking at a man garbed in red «Beginner's Gear», with a «Beginner's Sword» on his waist. He had closed the distance between the three of them after running for a moment. "You two were in the beta, right?"

"You can tell?" Kirito asked, confused by the man's question. Of course, the two of them _were _in the beta, but how did he know? Was he in the beta as well?

"I just assumed you were, since you are clearly not heading in the direction of the «Tutorial» area," the man said, holding out his right hand. "I'm Klein by the way, and incase you are wondering, I wasn't in the beta."

"«Klein»? Weren't you the leader of the «Fuurinkazan» guild in «SAO»?" Kirito asked the man, remembering the name from his time in «Sword Art Online». Fuurinkazan was one of the guilds with a reasonable amount of influence in the floating castle. They were either 4th or 5th in terms of size, in comparison to the many guilds that had populated «Aincrad».

"Ah, then you were from that game too?"

Kirito nods.

"Yeah, I'm «Kirito» from that game... and I'm the same in this game," Kirito replied, chuckling slightly at the amused expression Klein gave him upon hearing his name.

"You... you're _that_ «Kirito»!? You're the «Black Swordsman of Aincrad»!?" Klein exclaimed in shock. Truly, he didn't expect to run into the one who had landed the finishing blow on the «Final Boss» of «SAO» in this new game. He knew that Kirito had won the right to participate in the beta test as a result of his «Last Attack Bonus», but he didn't think he would hear about him until later in the game.

"Some people do call me that," Kirito said, nervously scratching the back of his neck. He had not expected someone to know who he was so soon. "I'd like to start this game with a clean slate though, so what happened back then doesn't really matter."

"I understand. That was one hell of a battle though, right?"

Kirito nods, remembering the brutal final battle in «SAO». It was truly worth being called a 'last boss.'

"Is there a reason you called to us, Klein-san?" Sinon asked, her icy eyes looking at Klein. Klein, noting her frostbite gaze, nervously gave his answer.

"Well... you see... I was hoping you guys could teach a thing or two? The tutorial didn't really explain everything."

Kirito rose an eyebrow at this. The tutorial, from he had remembered in the beta, was actually quite thorough with its information. Kayaba had even stated in an interview that he had made the tutorial more informative after the negative feedback of the tutorial of «SAO». The fact that Klein said it didn't explain everything didn't really make any sense.

"What do you mean? The tutorial is very in-depth," Kirito says, sounding confused. Sinon was equally as confused, knowing how well the tutorial had conveyed information in the beta. It seemed illogical to downgrade the tutorial for the full release.

"Ah, what I meant to say is that I am a more 'hands on' kind of learner, so I didn't really understand the tutorial," Klein said with a nervous laugh. The two partners both sighed at his unwillingness to say so in the first place. If he was concerned about how it made him look, going about it this way only made him seem less like the mighty leader of the guild he once helmed.

"If that was the case, you should have said so in the first place," Sinon said, not amused with Klein thus far. "Why ask us anyway? You could ask just about anyone who has completed the tutorial."

"W-well, I thought it'd be best to ask someone who didn't just learn everything, you know?" he said, feeling the chill of her gaze seeping into his poor soul. If the game was capable of recreating sweat, he would be sweating ice cubes in the shape of bullets. "I mean, you two _looked _like you were in the beta... so I thought-"

"That you could learn more from a far more experienced player then a fellow newbie?" Kirito asked, interrupting Klein whilst finishing the thought. Klein nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Exactly!"

"Well, I guess I could give you some pointers..." Kirito said more to himself then Klein. The way he saw things, he could give him a quick crash course in the game mechanics while grinding, which would leave them both happy. Klein was getting the better end of the deal, since it would cut into his grinding time a little, but he would feel bad leaving the man confused in this incredibly challenging game. "Alright, you can come with us for now."

"Really? Thanks Kirito, you're a lifesaver!" Klein said ecstatically.

Sinon sighed. This was a slight setback on their schedule, but she figured Kirito wouldn't have it any other way; he was far too noble for that, despite being a «Solo Player» in the past. She had experienced his kindness first hand in the beta, and decided to play along with this situation. Besides, what's the worse that could happen?

[==={|==============|}===]

_~To be guaranteed success in this world, it is advised that you party with at least one other person. Good Luck!~_

This was the final message of the tutorial of «NeuroBlade Online». It seemed like a simple bit advice to follow, but if only it were that easy. If you didn't know anybody in the game you had no idea if you could trust them with your back. This was overall the greatest flaw in the system of «NeuroBlade Online».

Kayaba had explained his reasoning for this more "teamwork" oriented method in a press release shortly after the debut of the game at «TGS» this past year. According to the press release, the decision was made based on surge of solo players that had begun popping up in other games. There was apparently no incentive to party with anyone in the other games, and Kayaba had said it "took away" from his vision of a "virtual community" made of players. While players interacted, partying had stopped being the method of choice around the time players had made it to «Floor 86» of «SAO».

Other games, such as «Alfheim Online» had a main quest that could only be completed by a collective of players. Although by the time the quest was completed, players were strong enough to play the game without partying for anything other than the odd «Group PvP» event, like an «Arena Match» or the like. In short, Kayaba had thought teamwork was slowly diminishing in the genre. For a developer of a «Massively Multiplayer Online» game, this was a problem.

As if to remedy this, Kayaba had made the challenge of «NeuroBlade Online» virtually impossible to do alone. If a player wanted to play solo, it would require them to dedicate their lives to grinding. The flaw with this mentality is that if you know nobody in the game, you'd feel uncomfortable with partying with a complete stranger. There were players who partied only to get rare drops in other games, often leading to them «Player Killing» the rest of their party to get their items after getting the aforementioned rare drops.

So for a player like Asuna, who knew nobody who played this game, the more team based gameplay was a hinderance rather than an advantage. She sighed as she walked out of the tutorial area, unsure as to what to do. She knew that she could grind for a bit alone, but if she wanted to actually make progress, she would have to bite the bullet and find a partner out of the 19 thousand or so strangers. While the idea certainly wasn't very appealing, she found she had little choice in the matter. The last thing she wanted was to be left behind by the more devoted players who had managed to form a party one way or another.

"_I guess I'll just have to find someone who looks trustworthy..."_ she thought, sighing once again at her dilemma. Looking around, she found herself asking the obvious question. _"Who actually looks like they can be trusted?"_

Trust was something that she had to be careful with, according to her mother. While she didn't particularly like half of the things her mother had taught her, she found this to be the diamond in the rough of all of her teachings. Trusting the wrong person could put you at risk of something not particularly nice to think about. Anything could go wrong, and as such, Asuna had always been careful when putting her trust in anyone. She refused to trust someone completely just in case, given her status in the real world. Here though, she was a female player, and whether or not they liked to admit it, male gamers can be quite the pigs.

"_Maybe I should find a female player to party with?"_

Scanning the people leaving the tutorial area, she noted that there were a fair amount of girls in the crowd. She knew that at least half of them had to be the perverted males who play as girls for one reason or another; it was unfair to label them all as perverts, but if their reason was something about getting free gear from male players, it was more than justified. There were some who were likely closet transexuals, which was not that uncommon in Japan, even at this point in time. One would think that in the year 2024 that people would be more open about who they really were. Asuna figured it was because of the stigmata that was associated with people outside of the hetrosexual community that prevented them from being as such, a thought which saddened her.

After giving it some thought, she figured she would ask the next female player she saw, and wouldn't discriminate if they were really a guy. It was taboo to talk about such things in a game like this, but she felt for the sake of security, that she would ask.

The player that had caught her eye was a «Phase Knight» type character, much like herself. She was blonde, with her hair tied up in a neat ponytail. The player's avatar was evidently more curvy than she thinks would fit, but then again, there were girls who lacked confidence in that area that sometimes used these kinds of games to feel better about it. Walking over to her, she presented herself as politely as possible whilst tapping her on the shoulder. The girl turned around, her emerald green eyes looking at Asuna quizzingly.

"Excuse me, but are planning on partying with anyone?" Asuna asked the girl, using the polite tone of voice she had been raised to use in such circumstances by habit. The girl shook her head, and gave a simple reply.

"I don't think I know anyone in this game... except for my older brother, but I have no idea where he is or what his character name is for that matter." she replied.

"Oh, then will you be partying with him if you find him?" Asuna asked.

"Probably... that is, if he believes me when I tell him who I am."

Asuna lifted an eyebrow at this comment.

"_Siblings playing the same game, yet one of them not knowing the other one is playing? How odd."_ she thought to herself.

"Ah, I'm normally not into these kinds of things, but I wanted to see why he was so excited to play this game... so I bought it on a whim," the girl explained, letting out a short nervous chuckle when she finished talking.

"In that case, do you want to form a party with me? I don't really want to be left behind by the other players."

The girl thought about it for a moment, before nodding in agreement.

"Alright, I don't want to be left behind either," the girl said, holding out her hand. "I'm «Leafa» by the way."

"My name is «Asuna», I hope we become good friends Leafa-chan!" Asuna said, grasping Leafa's hand with her own, and giving it a quick shake. "Just out of curiousity, are you actually a girl? I know it's taboo to ask that, but I just want to be sure."

"Haha, I was about to ask you the same thing. I'm a girl, so you don't have to worry about anything sleazy coming from me," Leafa said, giggling at the coincidence. It seemed that great minds thought alike when it came to personal security. "I assume because you asked that you are also...?"

"That's right."

"Good, well, it's good to meet you Asuna-san."

"Likewise, Leafa-chan," Asuna said, smiling at her seemingly new friend. She quickly navigated her menus, and sent the «Party» invite.

_~«Asuna» would like to add you to her party. Will you accept her invitation?~_

Selecting «Yes», Leafa watched as the addition of Asuna's status bar appeared beneath her own. Like hers, it had a little sword icon, symbolizing her status as a member of the «Phase Knight» class type.

_~«Asuna» would like to be friends. Will you accept her request?~_

Once again, Leafa was prompted by another question box. She looked over at Asuna, who simply smiled. She assumed that it would be beneficial to add Asuna to her «Friend List», if they ever get separated or disband their party in the future. She accepted, once again pressing the «Yes» option on the box.

With that done, the two girls were ready to begin the process of grinding up their characters to a reasonable level to take on quests.

As the were about to leave, Asuna felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Turning to see who it was, she was greeted with the avatar of another girl, this time with a dark purple hue to her. She gave off an aura of youth and innocence, and she looked at them both questioningly.

"Umm... are you two partying together?" the girl asked.

"Yes, we were just about to head out to begin grinding experience points... why do you ask?" Asuna asked, curious. Perhaps this girl was looking to join them?

"Well, I don't know anyone, and it's been a while since I last played a game like this... do you mind if I join you?" the girl asked, innocence clearly there. Asuna didn;t trace a single bit of dishonesty come from the girl's words, so she smiled.

"Sure, I don't mind. What about you Leafa-chan?"

"I'm okay with it, the more the merrier right?" Leafa said, smiling at the girl, whose face lit up with a huge grin as she hugged them both. As if on cue, the «Anti-Harassment System» brought up the option to send the girl to jail. Seeing her as nothing short of harmless to them, they declined. After the girl let go of them, she introduced herself.

"My name's «Yuuki», and I hope we can get along well~!" the girl chimed.

"I'm «Asuna», and this is «Leafa»," Asuna greeted.

"Nice to meet you Yuuki." Leafa said with a smile. With that, they sent Yuuki both a party and a friend invite, both of which she accepted happily, and they made their way to the area that most players would be right now: the area around «Origin City»; the «Promethean Fields».

[==={|======= Author's Note =======|}===]

So after countless delays and several rewrites, the highly anticipated (I think) «NeuroBlade Online» is out and ready for you all to read~ It took as long as it did due to several circumstances, so I hope you can forgive me for the wait. I will try not to take as long to write chapter two. I hope you are all interested in what I have in store, because there is a LOT coming in the future... you know, when I am not lazy and actually write.

Oh, and a quick shout out to Mr. California for giving me the name «NAViGATOR», even if I changed the style of how it was written.

So with that said, I will answer a few questions that you may have regarding the contents of this chapter before you ask them.

1. "Why the merger between Argus and Recto? I thought Argus went bankrupts, and Recto bought all of their trademarks?" - This was to simply create the bigger budget device that would take more money to make... in short, it was a purely business based move. (also, when Asuna refers to «ARS», she is referring to «Argus-Recto Softworks». This abbreviation will appear more in the future, since the full name is a little long.)

2. "Why have a closed beta in hotel suites? Wouldn't it make more sense to just do what SAO did for its beta?" - This is done to gain more direct feedback from a controlled source, while also keeping the game a easier to guard secret while it was in testing. While the Alpha build was shown at the Tokyo Game Show, the beta build added things to it, and in order to prevent leaks. That, and the beta was smaller in scale, only being about a fifth of the size of SAO's beta. They aren't all in the same hotel either, it's a chain of them that are partially owned (shareholders wise) by ARS... so yeah.

3. "Why is Suguha/Leafa playing VRMMOs? Shouldn't she not be interested in them because her brother isn't in a Death Game?" - I raise the point that she likely wants to close the gap between her brother, regardless of him being trapped in a Death Game or not. The best way she can do so is by playing VR games, so she does, and ends up liking them. It's basically for the same reason in the canon, minus Kirito being in a Death Game. And it's more fun to have Sugu in on the fun of a Death Game in my honest opinion.

4. "How did Sinon get into the Beta?" - That will be explained later.

5. "You changed some details from what was described in the forum post. Why is that?" - Honestly, it's because I felt like I needed to tweak the ideas, given it has been so long since I initially made said forum post. So yeah, terms changed in some cases, and other things remain the same to a degree. As for the biggest change, that will be addressed in one of the following questions.

6. "Are are most the characters introduced this chapter «Phase Knights»?" - Because in the canon they use swords? That's the best I got.

7. "Holy crap on a cracker, you included Yuuki! Why the change of heart?" - After thinking about it for a while, I came to realise that I had no problem with Yuuki, and actually kind of liked her. I still dislike Mother's Rosario (which I will properly address in the future, so wait for my reasoning until then... whenever that is), but I like Yuuki. Since I like Yuuki, she is part of the story. That's simple enough to believe right?

8. "Yuuki's AIDs are cure? By miracle science? Why the bogus science to remove a potential plot point?" - Honestly, I believe that by the time we can project video games into our minds, we will have a cure for AIDs and possibly cancer. I did indeed use complete bullcrap science, but I assure you, that it doesn't really matter much. The sole purpose of creating the fake medical program was to remove something that honestly would inhibit the way Yuuki would affect the story. That, and as I said on the forum, the MediCuboid would not be compatible with NBO, and it would not be upgraded to be until the Death Game is underway. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't send a terminally ill girl into a Death Game for the lulz. Hence the bullcrap science. Hope that is a sufficient explanation.

9. "What about the other Sleeping Knights? Will that appear?" - let me see... they are bland, and forgettable side characters who serve next to no purpose, with one of them miraculously getting better after Yuuki died... yeah, no, they will not be appearing.

If you have any additional questions that I didn't answer, I will address them in the next chapter if you leave them in your reviews. With that, I leave you. Until the next chapter everyone! It shouldn't take as long as this one did, although no promises. «Burst Out»!


	2. Act 1 - Chapter 2: Restarting Anew

"_Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts... A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding..." - William Gibson, Neuromancer_

[==={|======= «NeuroBlade Online» =======|}===]

Act 1

[==={|======= Chapter 2: Restarting Anew =======|}===]

The combat system of «NeuroBlade Online» was pieced together in a somewhat awkward format. As a result of this design choice, people, especially those reading about it, were left confused. The creator, Akihiko Kayaba, had often called it an "adaptive advantage system," due to the way combat was executed.

Combat was performed in a similar way to that of «Sword Art Online's» combat, having the «System Assist» occur when the starting action of an attack occurs. This would allow the player to perform their «Sword Skills» without fail, though it didn't guarantee a hit. The system had penalized players who used skills recklessly, leaving them temporarily unable to move after executing a skill, regardless of whether or not it had connected with it's target. This meant that players left themselves wide open if they didn't use their skills wisely, and it was enough of a window for players and monsters alike to take advantage of.

The fundamental difference between the combat of «NeuroBlade Online» and it's predecessor was the added dependence on the player's natural skills and "muscle' memory. In «NBO», skills would still receive a system assist, with the same cooldown period as that of the system in «SAO». However, if a player had learned the motions of their skills and could rely less on the system as a result, this would both result in a stronger attack and a greatly reduced cooldown time.

This meant that if a player was good enough to use skills without a system assist, the cooldown would be virtually non-existent, and could result in a chain of skills in rapid succession. As expected, performing a skill flawlessly on one's own was incredibly challenging, and would take plenty of practice.

Perhaps the new design of the system had made it harder to understand it, but it made the combat seem more advanced, which to some, was a welcome change. For people like Klein however, it wasn't the kindest system to get the hang of.

"Wait, so skills do less if I use a system assist? That's the total opposite of «SAO»!" Klein say, confused by the change in the system's mechanics. It seemed unnecessarily complicated, when it was easier just to recycle the system the game's predecessor had used.

"I know, but it was the way the game was made. Trust me, it get's easier," Kirito said, sighing at the man's inability to grasp the information. He didn't think it would be _this_ hard to explain something so simple. Granted, it was only simple to him because he had a week prior to this to get a grasp of the mechanics. "Fundamentally speaking, the game teaches you how to use your weapons in a more effective way, which results in dealing more damage. It isn't called the 'adaptive advantage system' for nothing."

Sinon chuckled slightly at Kirito's difficulty sharing this information. She understood how difficult it was to actually get a grasp on the mechanics. Despite being a long range class, the «Arc Ranger» had a number of skills that tested a player's speed and accuracy, among other things.

"Think of it like you're 'learning by example.' The game, through the system assist, is teaching you how to do these techniques by guiding you through the motions," Sinon told Klein, choosing her words carefully. Watching Kirito struggle to explain this simple idea was quite humorous, but they were wasting time they could be using to grind on teaching a man the mechanics he couldn't understand in the tutorial. "It is 'showing your muscles' what to do, and eventually your 'muscle memory' will remember all of the steps."

Kirito gives her explanation a quick nod, silently thanking his partner for the assist there. She had performed the «Switch» just in the nick of time.

"Exactly, I couldn't have said it any better."

Klein was quiet for a moment as he processed the information. As if he finally got it, he lightly hit the palm of his left hand with the side of his clenched right hand. The expression, as most people saw it, was as if he said "I got it."

"So it's kind of like if a guy helps a girl he likes learn how to do something he's good at by guiding her with his hands? You know, like in a bunch of practically ancient movies?" he asked, receiving a nod from Kirito.

"Something like that, yeah."

"Ah, that makes sense then!" Klein said, doing a little victory fist pump, which made his two 'teachers' chuckle at his childish side. Upon completing this action, Klein drew his «Beginner's Sword» and took a stance. Kirito recognized the stance as the one for the basic Sword Skill, «Slant» from «SAO». He watched as Klein unleashed a system assisted version of the attack, pause for the cooldown, and then unleash the strike again. "Huh... it's harder than it sounds, but I guess it's been a while since I last used that attack. At least this game kept some of the skills from «SAO»."

"I'm sure they did that for ease of use, since a large chunk of the player base has likely played it," Kirito said with a shrug. It would make a lot of sense that this was the case, but it also may be the developers being lazy, though that was likely not the case. "Either way, it doesn't really make a difference in the end. In my eyes, they are two different games that just share some similar mechanics."

"And I came into this game from a completely different game, so I doubt that I would notice the similarities between this game and «SAO»," Sinon added.

"Eh? Then how did Sinon get accepted into the beta? I thought only players of games like this got accepted..." Klein wondered aloud. This information was, of course, the product of rumors that spread amongst the various chatrooms and forums that kept up with the game. It was no secret that there was seemingly a bias towards players of a fantasy gaming background, given the weapons used in this game. Klein found it odd that they would recruit a person to test the game from a completely different kind of game; if they were in a completely different game, than the mechanics should be more confusing, right?

Shaking her head, Sinon knew that he likely didn't dig as deeply into the game as someone like her partner. Explaining how it happened was simple, sure, but annoying nonetheless. She really just wanted to get to grinding, since would be the least likely to defrost her currently frozen heart. Focussing on the kill was easier with a icy heart, something that actually made sense in the mind of a former sniper.

"I came from the game «Gun Gale Online», and got brought into the beta for finishing in first place in the third «Bullet of Bullets» tournament. I barely won, but that's because playing of a «Sniper» build in a big PvP tournament is risky in that game," she explained, remembering the several close calls she had in the tournament several months back. "From what I understand, the Japanese developers of «GGO» were hired to help with the physics of the ranged weapons. Since they did so, «WiRED» was more than happy to allow them to use a few beta invite as a bonus prizes for the top three in the then upcoming «BoB»."

"Ah, so Sinon and two others from «GGO» were invited to the closed beta because of their ranged weapon skills. Gotcha!" Klein said, instantly understanding the circumstances.

Using beta invites as prizes was a quick way to find skilled players to test the game that they were presently playing. The game was fundamentally more challenging than previous games of the genre, so it made sense to want more skilled players in the closed beta test. As a result of the desire for more skilled players, the beta had only a fifth of the beta for «SAO», and had a more clear cut focus for the people in it.

"So, do you think you understand everything now, Klein?" Kirito asked, his metal fingers lightly grazing the hilt of his sword. He was itching to begin grinding, knowing that their time advantage was greatly hindered by this change in plans. Still, it wasn't like that was an issue, so long as he was able to reach a decent level by the end of the day. In the beta, he had barely reached the beta level cap of 20 before it had ended. Now that he knew of good locations to grind, and had someone who also knew of those areas to watch his back, he was ready to take on this game in record time. He was hoping that with more players that they would be able to clear out the entire «Sector» in a month. It was wishful thinking, but the majority of the players had played another game like this one before, so they would learn the mechanics quicker than the newbies to VR games. "I'd like to get to grinding, you're welcome to join us for a while if you want."

"I think I got it," Klein said with a smirk. He extended his hand, gesturing to Kirito to shake it. "I'll take you up on the offer. Grinding alone in any game is no fun; not that you're alone, but still."

The three of them then set off to fight a group of the game's most basic of enemy mobs, the «Mutant Boar». The creatures reminded Klein of the first mob he had fought in «SAO», which also happened to be a boar of some description. It was somewhat nostalgic, but this time he wouldn't get knocked on his ass by said boar; that was one piece of nostalgia that he'd rather not experience again.

[==={|==============|}===]

Combat in «NeuroBlade Online» had a different kind of intensity to it than all previous «VRMMO» games; it was the only game that had the player feel actual pain upon impact. The intention was to create a more "realistic" kind of combat, despite the fact that players were using weapons like heavily science fiction inspired. Earlier games in the genre had not implemented this form of artificial realism due to the negative effects it had on the body. Most of these effects were not permanent, but as it was a psychological form of pain, it took a while to convince the brain that everything was fine. To prevent this strain, all VR games implemented a "pain threshold buffer" feature, which was scaled on a 10 to 0 number system.

If the pain threshold was set to 10, there would be no pain, and most games used this as it's default setting. This prevented the brain from recognizing the pain, and would result in negative after effects once the player is out of the game. In that sense, the lower the number got, the more pain the player would feel. If the number was 3 or below, the pain would result in negative effects on the body. It's believed that if you killed a player in certain ways, such as being stabbed through the heart or decapitation, they would actually die. For this reason, the threshold was never lowered that far in testing, only making it to 3 before they decided it was too risky to continue.

On occasion, there were games that used the safe, yet still somewhat painful settings that ranged from 9 to 7. It was considered safe to do this, and it had next to no impact on everyday life. «NeuroBlade Online», however, dialed it down to 4. Tests had proven it only caused a "ghost pain" in the user that lasted for a few hours. To this affect, the mind would feel approximately 60% of the potential pain from an attack. This was enough to be incredibly painful, but have no negative effects on the body should you log off before the brain recognized the pain was gone.

Also, to add to the realism of the game, all materials in the world of «NeuroBlade Online» held the actual consistency of said material's real life equivalent. The game also boasted a realistic engine for damage to the material. However, things inside of towns and cities were considered an «Immortal Object», and could not be broken. To this effect, the only damage that can occur in a town is when players instigate a «Duel», and the only thing damageable would the players themselves.

One interesting thing that held realistic consistency were the players themselves. Players, while not actually made of flesh and bone, had the actual consistency of an actual human being. There were no muscles or bones to speak of, but the characters themselves could feel the tearing of flesh in battle. If a metal limb was struck, it would still feel a form of "pain", but it would have the consistency of metal instead of human tissue, and as such, would take a blow better. The pain a player felt if their metal limb was broken could equate to the pain of a broken limb, buffered of course by the pain absorber system. This was due to the in-game mythos, where artificial limbs were given artificial "nerves" to help the brain adjust to the metal appendage.

This, coupled with the enemies themselves holding their expected consistency, gave combat a feeling of "weight," which was something other games of the «VRMMO» genre tended to lack. Every strike felt as it should, and every bit of damage felt satisfying when inflicted on an enemy, and painful when stuck. Add onto that a combat system that rewarded players for mastering their skills without a system assist made the game feel more like a battle should. Battles were tests of speed, strength, and skill; this was a game that required all three in order to succeed at any given task.

So the surprise one feels when they see three girls of completely different backgrounds skillfully taking out various «Mutant Boars» in a matter of minutes is somewhat justified. Not only because they are cute looking girls, but because of the fluid motions they make in combat despite only having cleared the tutorial. It was clear to any onlooker that Asuna, Leafa, and Yuuki were all skilled in the art of swordplay, and this being incredibly early in the game, it was a breath taking display.

"HAH!"

In what seemed like a few seconds, Asuna had slain yet another boar, and earned the pre-determined amount of «Experience Points» and «Unik Credits» for slaying a weak enemy like the «Mutant Boars» that populated the area. As the group fought as a unit, they all got some experience and money from the boar she had slain.

«Unik» was an unusual name to give credit based money, but the name hadn't been used before, and was inspired by the name of the novel of the same name by one Philip K. Dick, one of the world's most influential, yet under-appreciated science fiction authors of his time. While the name of the game's currency had little to do with the contents of said novel, the name was used none the less.

_~«Asuna» has Levelled Up!~_

The message dictating this information appeared in Asuna's vision, and she smiled. She also noted the same expression on her companions' faces, they too, likely achieving an increase in level. This was the second time they had seen this message, and it had taken quite a bit of time to get this far. The three of them had been grinding for about two hours now, meaning it was around 4PM, having completed the tutorial about a half hour after they had entered the game.

"How long do you think it will take to get to «Level 4»?" Yuuki asked, smiling due to the increase in level the three had just experienced. It could be roughly estimated that it would take another hour or so, since they had leveled up twice in the span of two hours. Then again, the required experience and the experience given begins to create a gap the higher level the player, so it could take longer.

"I'm not sure... since the enemies in this area only give so much experience," Leafa commented, sheathing her sword. The area was clear, since the spawn rate of monsters was not able to keep up with the amount of players in the general area and how fast they were slaying them. They had witnessed a few people fall at the hands of the monsters, and hadn't returned. There was a high likelihood that they were newer to the genre, and were upset at losing to one of the easiest enemies in the game, since they didn't return, but they didn't let it bother them much. "We should probably find more of them though, unless one of you has to log off now."

"I can keep going for a little while, my family has dinner at five-thirty, so I have another hour or so before I have to leave," Asuna said, also sheathing her sword. One thing that Asuna couldn't help but dislike was the fact that her family had strict times they did things. If she arrived to the dinner table late, then her mother would scold her while she ate what she was given slowly. She hated her mother's strict attitude sometimes, and given how often her father was late to dinner because of work, she felt it was slightly unfair. Her mother often excused her father because his job was demanding. "What about you two?"

"I'm having dinner at six, so I can play a little longer. Besides, I'm the one cooking tonight. My mother and father are going to be home a bit late tonight," Leafa replied. It was normal for her and her older brother to alternate between cooking duty. Tonight was technically not her night to cook, but seeing as her brother just got a new game, he would likely want to take the time. "I'll probably log off just after five-thirty though, just to get a head start on tonight's dinner."

"My aunt said dinner was going to be around six tonight, so I can stay on for now," Yuuki said, being the last of the three «Phase Knights» to sheath her sword. She wondered what her aunt was planning to make for dinner, but she supposed she could just wait and find out. either way, it was likely going to be way better than hospital food. One would think that if hospitals could afford high-tech equipment that they could make hospital food taste better. "So do you want to look for more enemies?"

"Hmm... I think we should try and hit «Level 4» and then go buy better gear. Our «Unik Credits» are starting to pile up," Leafa suggested, surveying the area for more of the typical enemies. Sadly, none were in view. They would likely spawn again in the next few minutes, but relying on spawn rates in an area that is teeming with other players was pointless. "We might have to move to a different side area though, there aren't any mobs in the area."

The group agreed that was the best course of action, before heading off to find more low level mobs to slay. Knowing full well that this would likely mean that they would barely make it to their next level up, if at all, before they had to log off to eat dinner.

[==={|==============|}===]

Sinon took aim at an unsuspecting «Lesser Borrower», steadily pulling back on the string of her «Beginner's Bow». Despite the fact that the world of «NBO» was very science fiction and cyberpunk inspired, the weapons were of an older time. While they were cybernetically enhanced, they still functioned in a similar way to the original weapons. For instance, a bow still functioned like a bow, and required both arrows and a clear shot. Unlike the modern bow, however, the arrows were not held in a traditional quiver. Instead, arrows were compacted and treated like an ammo clip. They were lightweight due to their interesting design and were essentially arrowheads with telescopic shaft that produced the fletchings when fully extended. The design made it easier to rapid fire arrows, as well as load.

There were also Crossbows, which used a nearly identical mechanic when reloaded. They were a shorter ranged weapon in comparison to the traditional bow, and had their own special uses. Sinon, however, prefered a traditional bow, as the shot typically went farther, and were good for sniping. She also favored the unique mechanics of the traditional bow more so than the ones offered in crossbows. Crossbows were good for closing distance, and had special skills pertaining to that and crowd control, in the case of it's «Burst» skill.

Traditional Bows specialized in a more tactical scenarios that are good for stealth kills and assisting a party member from a distance. This, combined with Kirito's «Phase Knight» class made for a rather deadly glass cannon style combination. «Arc Rangers» were best utilized when there are several, but Sinon was a surprisingly good at firing with rapid succession. If she had assistance of some form, it would be great, but that was something that she just had to live with. Besides, she worked well alone, and surprisingly well with a fellow "lone wolf" like Kirito.

She timed her shot with her heart beat, allowing for a shot with deadly accuracy. This was a system that had been carried over from «GGO» by the developers that had been hired from «Zasker» to assist in developing the perfect system for ranged weapons.

With a quiet popping sound, the arrow hit the monster right between the eyes, taking out a good two thirds of it's health. Before the creature could react, it was pierced by a second arrow, shattering it into fragments of data. It was display that occurred in plenty of other VR titles, so it was nothing new to Sinon. Still, this particular game, with it's better overall graphical quality, made it look just a little bit better than past entries in the genre.

"Hey Sinon, think you can aggro the cluster over there?" Kirito asked, directing her attention over to a small cluster of «Mutant Boars». Nodding, she once again got into position, drawing the string of her bow with her left hand. The arrow, steady, left the bow with force, colliding into the side of one of the boars. Now angered, the boar caused what was commonly called a «Chain Aggro», alerting the four others in it's proximity know of its aggressors. The five boars, one with an arrow wedged into it's left side, charged towards the location of the two «Phase Knights» and the lone «Arc Ranger». "Alright Klein, you ready to take them on?"

"Of course! I can't let you have all of the fun, Kirito!" Klein replied, drawing his blade and preparing himself for battle. He and the two beta testers had been doing this for just over two hours, and it they had the technique down to an artform.

"You ready, Sinon?" Kirito asked, which had been the upteenth time he had asked, despite knowing that she was more than ready. They had this routine since the beta, but with the addition of Klein, it made it much more efficient than it had been back then. Perhaps having more close range combatants was a good balance for her maintaining a good distance from the battle.

"You really need to stop asking that, you know I am," Sinon said, having already drawn another arrow. Kirito, giving her a nod, draws his own blade and takes the stance he adopted from his days in the floating castle of «Aincrad». Once the arrow was fired, the two swordsman activated the signature skill of the «Phase Knight» class: «Phase Step».

Each class in «NBO» has a special skill unique to their class. For «Phase Knights», the skill was «Phase Step». This skill gave the player a temporary boost in speed, and made it look like they were "phasing out of this reality." The skill had two uses in combat; the first use was to dodge and strike with great speed, and the second was closing the distance between the player and their target. Kirito and Klein were using it for the latter of the two, but would likely be able to maintain it long enough to land a few quick attacks.

Skills such as these were activated merely by focussing on it. How long a player had to use this skill was dictated by gauge below the «Health Gauge», aptly called the «Focus Gauge». The gauge would slowly deplete when the special skill was being used, and it would slowly refill at a rate depending on the player's current level. The lower the level, the slower the gauge refills. It was quite simple really.

The two «Phase Knights» approached their foes with great speed, and as the monsters were approaching _them_ at great speed, they ended up in a clash. Although, from any onlookers' perspective, they were not so much clashing as much as they were massacring their opponents. The two of them had attacked with just enough of their «Focus Gauge» left to unleash hell on two of the boars. As the gauge depleted completely, they had landed a finishing «Slant» on their victims, slaying them in a glorious display of sparkling pixels.

Sinon took this opportunity to activate her class' special skill: «Arc Eyes». This particular skill was the trademark ability of the «Arc Ranger» class, and granted enhanced vision to the user. Under the effects of this skill, the player would be able to see far beyond the normal «Field of View», and could pinpoint the weak spots on any enemy. An added bonus was that until the ability timed out, the player would fire a shot without having to worry about their heart rate. It was not a way to guarantee a hit, but it made it pretty hard to actually miss.

Using the weak points of her enemies to her advantage, Sinon fired several arrows in rapid succession, pelting the three remaining boars, and knocking out a good chunk of their remaining health. Firing one more shot, she took out the boar she had previously hit to aggro the cluster, killing it as her focus gauge had run dry.

Kirito and Klein wasted no time landing finishing blows on the two remaining boars, ending their artificial lives with the «Vertical» skill. With the battle over, the three of them were greeted with a familiar pop-up.

_~«Kirito» has Levelled Up!~_

Having achieved a rather respectable «Level 4» due to the combined efforts of Klein, Sinon, and himself. It was truly an achievement this early in the game, although this was once again due to the game's focus on grouping. This made using the strategy they were using very effective, making grinding a breeze. It would likely be easier with a few other players of the other five playable classes, but that was something they didn't really have a lot of say on. Then again, another «Arc Ranger» would be pretty nice, but he felt like bringing that up with Sinon would be a death sentence. He shook the thought from his mind, and stretched as the aforementioned sniper made her way to their current location.

"Alright, we've hit «Level 4»... now what?" Klein asked, wondering what the group's next objective is. Kirito rose a hand to his temple, lightly scratching at his hair whilst wondering what to do next. He knew that grinding to «Level 5» was one of the options, although it was getting close to 5:30 PM, which meant that he would have to log off for dinner. Technically he was supposed to make dinner, but he remembered that Suguha had told him that she would handle dinner that night. He was grateful she understood that he would want to take in as much of the game as possible, so she had let it slide.

"Well, I have to log off just before six to get ready for dinner, so I'm not sure."

"I should probably get started on dinner myself, but I'll wait until you log off, just to make sure you don't go out and gain an extra level without me," Sinon said, chuckling slightly. She knew that Kirito wouldn't do that, but still felt like poking fun at his expense. "We can probably get one or two more clusters in before then..."

"Eh, actually, I think I should log off. I have a pizza coming at five-thirty, and I don't want to keep the guy waiting at the door, you know?" Klein said, realizing the time. He heard a chuckle from Kirito and Sinon, but he didn't say anything about it. Was it so wrong to be polite to the pizza guy? "Alright, so does this game have a «Logout Delay» like some other games outside of «Safe Zones»?"

Klein was of course referring to the more PvP oriented titles on the market, such as «Alfheim Online» and «Gun Gale Online», where logging out outside of safe areas had a fifteen minute delay. This meant your «Avatar» could be killed and looted in this time span, which could set you back quite a ways when you log back in. This meant you either had to waste a «Teleport» item, make your way to the nearest «Safe Area», or you had to have someone guard your lifeless «Avatar» for the duration of the delay period.

In response, Kirito shook his head.

"Nope, the game has the same logout system as «SAO», so you should be good to log out here. If the game changed this, we'll guard you until you disappear."

"Alright, thanks in advance should that be the case... oh, and before I forget to do this..." Klein said, swiping his hand to open the menus. After navigating it for a moment, a pop-up appeared in front of the two players from the beta.

_~«Klein» would like to be friends. Will you accept his request?~_

The two of them hesitated for a moment, before accepting the man's request. Klein grinned, happy that the two of them accepted the request. He was going to make sure that he would part with them in the future.

"Alright, I'll see you two later," he said, once again navigating the menus to the tab that contained the «Logout» button. Upon opening the tab, Klein's face was filled with confusion. The two beta testers wondered why the man looked so confused, but with a simple phrase, it was made clear. "The «Logout» Button is missing."

"Are you under the right tab?" Kirito asked, just as confused as the man in front of him.

"Oi, I may be a newbie at this game, but the menus are nearly identical to the menus in «SAO». I'm looking at the correct tab right now, and the button you use to log out is missing," Klein said, sounding somewhat offended. "Maybe it's a bug? It _is _the first day, this kind of stuff is bound to happen, right?"

Kirito, now even more confused, swiped at the air, opening his own user menu. Navigating to the bottom tab, he opened it, and to his surprise, Klein was speaking the truth. The «Logout» button was missing. The space for it was still there, but it was empty. Tapping the space, thinking it was a UI issue yielded no result.

"He's right, the button isn't there," Kirito said, becoming slightly concerned by this. Was this really a bug? The game was on a brand new engine, but even still, it seemed unrealistic that a bug like this _could_ even exist. He watched as Sinon opened and navigated her menu, only for her to stop and look at him.

"Mine's also missing..." she said, her voice riddled with confusion. She wondered how many others were having this problem, before tapping the «Contact GM» button in the same tab of the menu as the missing button. "I'm going to send a message to the GM, and ask why the button isn't working."

"That's about all we can do... so I guess we just have to wait it out," Kirito said, sighing in a frustrated manner. This kind of bug shouldn't exist on the first day of the game's release, and it would cause the PR people over at «WiRED» to get a storm of angry messages. A bad launch of a game could spell disaster for the company that developed it, and would ruin the chances it has of succeeding in the future with other games. Given the hype surrounding «NeuroBlade Online» due to it being the first 'next generation' «VRMMORPG», it could very well lead to «ARS» ceasing funding of the game. If the launch title for the «NAViGATOR» didn't work properly on the first day, what's to stop the consumer from thinking it's not what they were promised? "Still, I wonder if this is actually a bug..."

The sole girl in the triad of gamers gave her partner a weird look, as if he was doubting if the sky was actually blue. True, in Virtual Reality, nearly anything is possible, including a sky that isn't blue, but it was still a bizarre thing to ponder. What else could the missing log out button be?

"What if this was intended?" Kirito asked, causing his two companions to look at him with an expression of pure confusion. "It is possible that this isn't a glitch, and is just the developers trying to scare everyone."

"Why would they do something like that though?" Klein asked, not understand the way Kirito was thinking at all. It was as if he was suddenly saying clouds were made of cotton candy and would rain gumdrops, it made no sense. "Wouldn't that just get them yelled at later? Trolling the people playing your game by disabling the logout button seems a little over-the-top for a prank."

"Perhaps it's part of a quest to kick off the launch of the new game?" Sinon suggested, not sure of what to think. If there was one thing she knew about Kirito, it's that he had a habit of analysing details and looking at every possible option. It had been his ability to do so that allowed her to make it through the beta as well as she did, but she still couldn't help but question him right now.

"That could also be the case. Although Klein has a point... it seems a little too elaborate for something that could damage the game's reputation."

"Then what could it be?" Sinon asked, not sure of the other possibilities. She racked her brain for a logical answer, but none came. It seemed as though this was intentional, but that couldn't be it... could it?

[==={|==============|}===]

_~«Yuuki» has Levelled Up!~_

Yuuki smiled ear to ear at this news. They had barely reached «Level 4» just before 5:30PM, when Asuna would have to leave for dinner, and she couldn't be happier about their progress. The group had managed to defeat a fair number of «Mutant Boars», as well as a handful of the «Lesser Borrower» mobs that occasionally spawned, and this increase in level had been the fruits of their labor.

"Alright, we did it~!" Yuuki said, throwing her arms in the air after sheathing her «Beginner's Sword». The group had worked hard, and had the proof of this in the form of their levels. Yuuki couldn't help but wonder how many other players had hit this level. It seemed only natural that they weren't the only ones to hit this level, and maybe some had surpassed it. She found the idea of somebody hitting «Level 5» in the span of 3 hours to be insane. There were larger groups than the one she was in, so it was entirely possible, if a bit unrealistic. "Do we have time to head into town to get new gear, or do you have to log off not Asuna-san?"

"It's just about five-thirty... so I should probably get ready for dinner. My mom's kind of strict about me being late to dinner," Asuna said, frowning. She was enjoying herself and the time she was spending with both Leafa and Yuuki, but alas, she had to go appease her mother by not being tardy for the meal prepared. She remembered that the chefs had said that today was going to be something western, which was a nice change of pace. If anything, today's dinner would be worth arriving to on time solely for the taste alone.

Swiping the air with her hand, then briefly navigating the menus, Asuna found her way to the tab where the «Logout» button was located. However, something was off. She blinked, to make sure she was seeing the site before her correctly. Her eyes hadn't mistaken her; the «Logout» button was not present. Where it should have been was an empty space that did nothing when she attempted to press it.

"The «Logout» button is missing..." she commented in a reasonably quiet voice. This didn't make any sense to her. Why was the button missing? Was it a bug? It was the launch day, so maybe there was a glitch or something.

When hearing the barely audible words leave Asuna's mouth, both Yuuki and Leafa went into their menus. Opening the tab that was supposed to contain the «Logout» button, they had found that it was indeed not present. Their expressions turned from confused to worried as thoughts roamed their heads. They all had prior commitments, and needed to attend to them, yet the missing button made it impossible to do so.

"Do you think it's a bug?" Leafa asked, but Asuna shook her head.

"That doesn't really seem likely. I'm not super into the technical aspects of these kinds of things, but from a logical standpoint, allowing a bug like this happen would ruin the game's reputation. They had to have run it through several checks to make sure things would run smoothly," Asuna said, keeping the fact that her family was also connected to the game's creators.

Her father was the CEO of «ARS», and was previously the CEO of «Recto-Process» before the merger with Argus. He had minimal ties to the game's creation, although as CEO of the company that effectively owned the development studio, «WiRED». He and the board of directors had made it clear to have the game bug free for launch, since it was the bundled title with the first press editions of their brand new piece of hardware. If the game had a major issue that made players too unhappy, than they would lose faith in the brand, and as such, the company as a whole would take a hit. The risk of letting a bug like this through the crack was absurd.

"Then maybe it's some kind of sick joke on the developers parts? Like, maybe it's part of a quest?" Leafa thought aloud. Once again, Asuna shook her head.

"That seems a little overkill for the first day. It doesn't really sound like a good business practice."

"How about we contact the «Moderators»?" Yuuki suggested, to which Asuna nodded. It seemed like the best course of action. Maybe then they would get some answers. Part of her thought that was unlikely, but she nevertheless typed out a quick message asking the «GM» what was wrong with the «Logout» button, and if the problem would be fixed soon.

"Is there another way to logout?" Leafa asked, wondering if there was another way. It was times like this she wished her brother was around to explain these things to her. She had only really been into VR games for about a year, and she didn't bother look into the technical side of things.

"I think you have to use the «Logout» button, or a «GM» has to do so," Asuna commented, wondering about any other ways to get out the game from within. None came to mind, since «Sword Art Online» never had this problem. She was honestly just as puzzled as the others in her company, but had a nagging feeling that it was impossible.

"What about taking off the «NAViGATOR»?" Yuuki suggested. The girl hadn't encountered an issue like this in the past, but her time with gaming was with the «MediCuboid», which was closely monitored by the hospital staff. If something like this happened, they would likely find out and deactivate the device.

"Only someone on the outside can do that," Leafa said, knowing at least that much. Her brother had mentioned that aspect about the «NerveGear», should he be late to making dinner on the nights when their flip-flopping routine is brought into effect. It was a 'last resort' that would often ruin a game for him, but it had been employed a few times by herself to make sure he at least did his share of the cooking. "My brother used to get so absorbed in the game he was playing that I would have to pull off his «NerveGear» to get him to come down for dinner. I think our mom did it once too."

"So we can just wait until one of our guardian takes it off to get us to come to eat?" Yuuki asked, receiving a nod from Leafa. "But Asuna-san, won't you be late then?"

"It's out of my hands, so I'm sure it'll be fine if I explain what happened to my mother."

"So we just have to wait for the «GM», or someone to come and remove the «NAViGATOR»... so should we head into town to get better gear?" Leafa asked. Passing the time doing something else would surely get their mind off of the issue at hand. "We should have enough «Unik Credits» to buy something that is better than what we have at the very least."

The three girls agreed that they should head back into «Origin City» to see if they could get better equipment. Specifically, they wanted to see if there were any blades that cater to their fighting styles better. Asuna was a Rapier user in «SAO», so she prefered them over traditional swords. Leafa, due to her kendo training in real life, was best suited for a sword built for slashing. Yuuki was actually comfortable with either, so she just wanted a stronger sword. This is what made their team so interesting whilst they grinded; they each had their own fighting styles based on their preferences.

It was going to be quiet the walk, so they decided to make small talk on the way back into the city. They talked of the various things they had done in the games they had previously played. While Asuna and Leafa had told stories about their time in «SAO« and «ALO» respectively, the highlights came in Yuuki's stories of her time playing the many games she had played whilst using the «MediCuboid». She never stated any of the details, figuring they weren't important. That, and Yuuki didn't quite know if people would accept her now, even though she was no longer sick. She had been picked on by other kids because of her disease when they had found out about it, so she kept quiet about it while she talked.

She told them about all of the neat worlds she had been a part of for a while, even bringing up «SAO» and «ALO» once each. She spent more time talking about her times in games that they hadn't played. Like a game that was heavily inspired by American comic books, or the time she played a game based on a popular game franchise about catching little monsters in little red and white balls. Asuna and Leafa were intrigued by all of these games she had mentioned, and felt that they should have given those other games a chance before coming into this one. Sure, they were likely all finished and were just big PvP based games now, but it would have been neat for them to experience all of the worlds that their friend had experienced.

Instead, they were stuck in a world based off of literature that none of them were really interested in. In the case of all three of them, the game was interesting because of their individual reasons. Though they didn't share those reasons with one another, there was no effort made on any of their parts to try and pry the reasons out of one another.

Their time walking back into the city where they had all met a few short hours ago gave them time to get to know each other a little bit. While there was so much more to learn about each other, there was no doubt in any of their minds that they were now friends. Sure, their friendship had started as a common means to an end in a game that relied on teamwork, but it certainly turned out to be much more than that.

It seemed like time had barely gone by when they had arrived at the edge of town, but they had found that it was just about 6:00PM when they got there. There was still no word from the «GMs», which caused Asuna's feeling of dread to return, but she didn't let it bother her.

It was clear from the little bits and pieces of the conversations they heard as they were walking by that they weren't the only ones with the logout problem. It was clearly a widespread issue that more than likely concerned all twenty-thousand players of the game.

Leafa felt a slight bit of relief that her brother was likely faced with the problem, and that he wouldn't be waiting for her to logout to make dinner. At least she didn't have to feel bad for not logging out on time, since her brother was still in the game. Although, that did present the issue that they wouldn't be pulled out the game by their parents until tomorrow morning.

The air of confusion amongst the playerbase doesn't get by the three of them unnoticed. All of the players are incredibly confused, as were they. The odd person was panicking, and making a scene, but other than that things just seemed odd.

"Still no reply?" Yuuki asked. She was, of course, referring to the message Asuna had sent to the «GMs». Asuna shook her head, and Yuuki let out a sigh. Why was this taking so long? Shouldn't the people moderating the game be at least sending out a notice that explained what was happening? It seemed a little silly in the young girl's eyes to let people be confused and panicked over something that was a pretty big deal. If the logout button didn't work, than the players were at the mercy of whoever they happened to live with. Thankfully, she now had a family that would help her if needed be, but there were people who lived alone. Yuuki couldn't help but wonder. _"What about them?"_

"Don't worry Yuuki-chan, I'm sure we'll get an answer of some kind soon," Asuna said, smiling at the young girl. Of course, Yuuki's current «Avatar» didn't look young, but that was due to the customization options before the game had started. Asuna likely had no idea of her actual age. She had no idea how old Asuna or Leafa were either, and that's because it was taboo to discuss that kind of stuff in a game like this. Regardless, she knew that she didn't know what either of that actually looked like, nor did she know what anyone else playing the game actually looked like. It was pretty safe to assume that nobody actually looked like their in game «Avatars», but that didn't bother her at all.

There was a level of fun pretending to be the character you created in a «VRMMO», since in a game like this, you _were_ the character. It was kind of like everyone was a chuunibyou, and nobody here judged you for it. To that extent, it was pretty amusing to imagine who they were on the inside.

She wondered if the people she had come to know as «Asuna» and «Leafa» were _really_ the people they were beyond their polygonal mask. Of course, this was the sort of thing people her age shouldn't be thinking about. These sorts of things were for people who were at least a year older than she was to think about, but she found a small interest in trying to see people who they truly were. It was kind of fun learning who her friends really were.

Pulling Yuuki out from deep within her thoughts was the sound of an alarm. It was loud, and blared throughout the streets of «Origin City», and likely made enough noise to be heard from just outside the city, where all of the players not currently in the city were likely grinding away the time by slaying monsters. All of the NPCs completely stopped in their place, and everything seemed to stand still. Suddenly, without warning, Yuuki felt herself being transported, much like she had in the beginning of the game.

When her vision returned, she was still standing near Asuna and Leafa, but they were surrounded by an ocean of people. Were these the other players? Why were they all here right now? Was this the work of the one of the «Game Masters»?

[==={|==============|}===]

The confusion that was encapsulated in the «Central Plaza» flowed through the air, carrying with it the words of the mass of players with it. What was going on? Some players were in the midst of grinding, the majority of them not knowing about the issue that had likely caused this mass gathering of players.

Kirito suspected, as did the people who knew about the issue, that this was without a doubt the work of one of the «Game Masters». It was likely that they were about to address the issue of the lack of «Logout» button functionality. Kirito knew that this gathering would either put people at ease, or cause them to erupt into a panic; yet he couldn't shake the feeling that it would cause the latter to occur. He didn't know why he thought this, but now that they were finally getting an answer to the question that had been plaguing the minds of all players who had noticed what was wrong.

"Look up there!" a random person yelled, directing the entire crowd's attention to the sky. In the sky over «Origin City», a «System Announcement» icon, flashing a bright, eyecatching blood red. Then, as if from nowhere, a large semi-transparent holographic figure of a man appeared. It was donned in what could be described as "signature cyberpunk" fashion, featuring a trench coat as the dominant garb. The figure was largely dark looking, but that was best exemplified by the almost silhouette looking head.

The head showed no signs of any human features, and was more or less a shadow that vaguely resembled a bald man's head. If one were to look from the sides, it would appear that it lacked a a nose, and from the angle most people saw it, it lacked ears as well. It was as if it was an incomplete character model, and it was incredibly unnerving. While less noticeable, all of the areas where skin could potentially show lacked and form other than a "dull shadow" shadow aesthetic, further adding to the unnerving vibe the figure gave off.

The beta testers amongst the sea of people, including both Kirito and Sinon, recognized the attire of the figure as the outfit the «Game Masters» wore. The obvious lack of distinguishable human features aside, it was very clearly the «GM» attire. Now, more than ever, that this mass gathering of all the online players was something one of them had made happen.

"_Greetings, players. My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and I welcome you to the world I have created; I welcome you all to the vast world of «NeuroBlade Online»."_

The voice that had spoke these words didn't sound remotely human. It sounded as though it was being masked by a program, or was merely sound waves being bent into a way that made it resemble human speech. Nevertheless, Kirito had no doubt that the voice spoke the truth about its identity. This figure that stood before them was the lead designer of the game they were now playing, and a man he greatly respected for his work in the development of Virtual Reality hardware and software alike. This was indeed Akihiko Kayaba.

The sounds of confused mutterings and chatter filled the plaza, wondering if the voice was truly was the creator of the game. It would make sense, since he was the man who had created this world, but some people still had their doubts.

"_I have spent countless hours creating the very world in which you now reside, so I hope you are all enjoying what it has to offer. If you aren't enjoying yourself, than I am afraid that you will have to learn to adjust."_

This comment caused a few outcries of complete confusion, most likely from the very players who he had referenced. It was obvious that amongst twenty-thousand people, there would be a few people who didn't like the game. There was even a high possibility that at least one tenth of the players from the beta test weren't playing the game right now, since there were a fair number of them that didn't enjoy the mechanics of the game. Regardless, the way he had worded that last bit made would have made the hairs on Kirito's neck stand on end if the game was capable of that.

"_As you are most likely aware of at this point, the «Logout» button is missing from the menu. You are all likely thinking this is a bug. I'm also quite sure that some of you may think this is a prank being pulled by «WiRED» for the launch period, or that this is part of a quest line devised by my team. There may even be some other ideas you all have about this issue that can explain it in a way that you find to be logical."_

He had been correct in his assumption, and the crowd grew deathly quiet. Surely he was about to confirm one of these suspicions. However, Kirito knew better than that. He had read through all of the interviews Kayaba had done in the past, and he could tell that him bringing up these ideas was for one reason.

"_I can assure you that none of those guess are correct, though it does raise a question. 'Why would the game not have the option to logout?' Well, before I answer that question, I'll ask my own. What is a world without people on it?"_

The obvious answer would be something along the lines of 'it would be empty,' and that made Kirito's throat feel as though it was closing in on itself. He knew that his throat in this world wasn't capable of such a thing, but if it was, the feeling would be there. The point of the question was to point out that for a world to be considered "alive."

"_As some of you might have already realized, a world without inhabitants is nothing but a barren, empty place. So with that in mind, some of you should know why the «Logout» function is not present."_

The whole crowd seemed to clue in on the way he had worded this information, but still said nothing aside from the odd noise of pure disbelief leaving the gaping mouths of those who had put two and two together. The reason logging out wasn't possible was...

"_You are all to be the inhabitants of this world. From this day forth, until all one hundred «Zones» of the ten «Sectors» have been cleared, and the floating castle about the figure you see before you is conquered, you will all remain her, in «NeuroBlade Online»."_

The crowd, suddenly able to speak, let out a loud cry of disbelief. The creators of this game had trapped them in here _just_ so they would fill the empty space of this world until it no longer had a purpose? What kind of sick joke was this? Kirito didn't know, but he had to wonder about one thing...

"_As for outside assistance in your escape, I'm afraid that is not possible. You see, the «NAViGATORs» you are all wearing in the real world are all armed with several things to keep people from tampering with them. These particular devices were created specifically for this game, and all twenty thousand of them are made with this in mind. If the «NAViGATOR» is removed by or tampered with by an outside source... the emitter that transmits the necessary signals to allow for you all to be here will disengage it's safety features, and will destroy your brains."_

"What!? That's not possible!" Klein cried out next to Kirito, angry at what he had just heard. He looked over at Kirito, who was still shocked at the news. "Right Kirito? There is no way that is possible!"

"Actually, it is," Kirito said. "The «NAViGATOR» uses an advanced system that was derived from a electromagnetic microwave emitter. If the safety features were disabled, it would fry your brain stem in a matter of seconds."

He looked over at Sinon, whose face held an expression of sheer terror. He had never seen the girl without her icy expressions before, yet he wished that she still bore one. This side of her wasn't one that he wanted to see.

"_Also, to prevent the possibility of server spoofing, the «NAViGATOR» and «NeuroBlade Online» are equipped with a special ping protocol. If the ping data does not match up completely, the «NAViGATOR» will proceed to terminate your brain. As this protocol was not in the design tested by the «Electronic Safety Bureau of Japan», there is no available data for this ping information that is accessible without costing the lives of all of you." _

Kirito, along with everyone else in the crowd, couldn't believe what he was hearing. Kayaba had _anticipated_ the likelihood of spoofing, and had worked around it. While the method wasn't the most orthodox, and clearly wasn't perfect, but it did present a viable threat that the Japanese government would not risk trying to breach.

Sure, spoofing was something he had very little knowledge on himself, but he knew that the government would not risk trying this method. Not when Kayaba had posed the threat of the lives of every person in the game. No government was stupid enough to call someone who was effectively a terrorist out on a bluff that would endanger the lives of twenty thousand people of it's population. This was especially with the number of youths that were likely in the game being rather high.

"_However, the odds of this happening are slim, as warnings have been sent out through all media outlets across the country, as well as to the Japanese government themselves. You will all be safe to continue your lives in this world for as long as it takes to defeat it. Though I should mention that some players' families have not heeded this warning. As such, five hundred and seventy two players will no longer be a resident of «NeuroBlade Online», as well any other world they were once part of."_

Despite the news being somewhat relieving, this was hardly enough to calm the raging storm of the complaints and protests of the crowd. While it was great that they weren't at a risk of dying because of people on the outside, they were all still trapped in a videogame against their collective will. Kayaba continued to talk without so much as a care in the world for their outcry of anger.

"_Despite this, all of you are still at risk if you decide to venture out to try and clear the game. As you may have noticed, some of your friends and fellow players who have fallen to a monster on the outskirts have not respawned or appeared since they were slain. This is another feature of the game. If your «Health» reaches zero, it will trigger the «NAViGATOR» to destroy your brain. If you die here in this world, you will cease to live in all worlds. As of right now, two hundred and thirty-one players have met their end this way, bringing the current number of lost souls up to just over eight hundred."_

This news made every who was making a fuss about being trapped fall silent once more. They listened as the electronically altered voice continued, not sure of what to say anymore. Eight hundred and three lives had already ended, and surely, they were only the first to fall to this twisted game of life and death.

[==={|==============|}===]

No way. There was no way that this was possible. These were the only words that flowed through Yuuki's mind. She had just been given a second chance at life, and it was being taken away from her as quickly as it had been given. She looked up at the figure that represented the person who had taken her chance to finally live her life away from her, yet she couldn't find it within herself to hate him. Why was that not the case? Why couldn't she hate the person that robbed her of that which she had fought so hard to reclaim?

"_With that said, I only have one more thing to say. However, I would first like to let you all know I have placed an item in your «Inventories». Please retrieve the item to confirm this."_

Doing as instructed, the three girls, who had their freedoms robbed from them, as well as the rest of the playerbase, called upon their menus. After sifting through the tabs, they came to their inventories, and there was indeed an item in it. The item was called «The Ghost Mirror»

"A mirror?" Asuna had asked nobody in particular, her voice full of confusion and fear. Selecting the item, it materialized and she grabbed it. Looking into what should have been a reflection, she was instantly blinded by a bright flash of light. As the light diminished, she looked at the reflection the mirror now had, and dropped is when she saw what it was.

The reflection had been her face... her _real_ face. It wasn't the reflection of the «Avatar» she had created... it was the face of Yuuki Asuna staring back at her.

Looking over at where Leafa had been standing, she was surprised to see a girl around her age with short, black hair standing in the green colored «Beginner's Gear» Leafa had been wearing. Quickly averting her vision to where Yuuki was, she saw a young girl with long black hair, held out of her face by a red headband that rested on her forehead wearing the dark purple «Beginner's Gear» she had been wearing before. Were these their real faces.

Looking around, she noticed that the population of players was significantly different than it had been before the light had blinded her. The number of female characters around her, as expected, dropped significantly. it was clear everyone was shocked at this sudden change, and she couldn't blame them. The clacking sound of the mirrors hitting the ground beneath them resounded through the area, and the computerized voice began speaking again.

"_As to ensure the most realistic experience possible given the hardware limitations, the «NAViGATOR» has used both facial recognition data and the information collected from the calibration process to recreate your real bodies here in this world. Also worth note is that the «Pain Buffer» that was previously set to four has been set to zero. All pain, from here on out, will hurt as much as it were if it were real."_

The crowd was shocked at this information. The game had basically become real life. Pain would be real, and would likely affect their lives if they make it out of the game. Things were just getting worse and worse by the minute.

"_You can rest assure however that you will not die from pain or the injuries that cause it. Only your HP reaching zero will result in your deaths. However, attacks that are fatal in reality will do far more damage to your HP than they would have previously. You will also still blackout from the pain, so keep in mind that you will be vulnerable in this state should it be outside of a «Safe Zone."_

The news was hardly reassuring.

"_With that, I once again thank you for participating in the launch of «NeuroBlade Online». Good luck towards clearing the game."_

With that, the man in the sky disappeared in an instant, and the crowd erupted into pure chaos. Asuna felt the dread hit her with full force, and slowly sank to her knees. This wasn't happening... this _couldn't_ be happening... and yet it was. She was never one to turn away from reality, but right now she wished that she could, as this reality was horrifying.

She felt a tap on the shoulder, and looked up, her eyes having lost all life to them. The person who had tapped her on the shoulder was the girl that had been standing where Leafa had been prior to the mirrors activating.

"You're Asuna-san... right?" the girl asked, her voice sounding more her age than it had when she was the blonde warrior that she had previously assisted in battle. Asuna nodded, and the girl smiled slightly. "You know who I am right?"

"You're Leafa-chan..." Asuna spoke, her voice being the one she had grown used to outside of the virtual hell they were now trapped in. Leafa nodded, and looked over at the girl that was supposedly the player they knew as «Yuuki». Asuna shifted her gaze to look, and saw that the younger girl was also on her knees, crying. "Yuuki-chan..."

Yuuki looked over to the person who had spoke her name, and was greeted by two people who didn't resemble the «Avatars» they had once been at all. She found it a little ironic that she had been wondering what they actually looked like before they were all greeted with this grim reality.

"Asuna...san?" the girl asked, to which the girl with long light brown hair nodded, meaning the other girl was Leafa. Asuna looked pretty shaken by this, but Leafa didn't seem as phased. She watched as Asuna rose to her feet, allowing for the two of them to walk over to her while she tried to stand herself up.

"I know this is scary, Yuuki-chan, but we can make it through this," Leafa said, smiling, and offering a hand to the crying girl. Yuuki whipped the tears from her eyes, and took the hand the older girl had offered her. Once she had stood up, Leafa looked at the two of them. "Listen, my older brother is probably in this plaza somewhere... and since we all look like we actually do, it should be easy enough to find him."

"Leafa-chan's brother?" Asuna questioned. She thought about it for a minute, before realizing that Leafa did indeed have a brother. "That's right... Leafa-chan had mentioned earlier that she had a brother that was also playing «NBO»."

Leafa nodded.

"Yeah, and I think we should find him. He was in the «Beta Test», so if there is anybody that can help our odds of surviving, it's him."

"So if we find Leafa-san's brother, we'll be able to survive longer?" Yuuki asked. Leafa nodded, and Yuuki felt a little bit better. This information gave her a bit more hope, which was something she had learned to never underestimate. She had lived through one of the world's deadliest diseases based on the hope that a cure would be found, and it was. "Alright, lead the way Leafa!"

"Right, then let's go, Yuuki-chan, Asuna-san!" Leafa said, receiving a nod of confirmation from her two recently acquired friends. They were going to make it out of this alive. Leafa... no... Suguha Kirigaya truly believed that her brother would be willing to help them. _"I hope we find you soon, Onii-chan..."_

The three of them set off to find Leafa's older brother, the player they had yet to meet; the «Black Swordsman of Aincrad», Kirito.

[==={|==============|}===]

Asada Shino fell to her knees. She was trapped in a twisted game of death, and all she had wanted was to continue being friends with Kirito. She had thought nothing in this world would break her out of her ice sniper persona, but the grim facts she was now faced with had melted the ice with fear. She was no longer the «Ice Sniper of Gun Gale Online», Sinon. No, all that remained at this moment was the frail and damaged Shino. The girl who started playing VR games to try and cover up the wounds she bore on her heart by freezing them over. Now, for the first time in her life since she had started playing these kinds of games, she regretted it.

"Sinon," the voice of a young male spoke. She turned to look at the effeminate male that stood behind her, his slightly long and slightly messy black hair matching the dark color of his «Beginner's Gear» almost perfectly. She didn't understand how he wasn't scared right now. How was he so strong? "Sinon, we need to head to the next city over while everyone is in a frenzy."

She didn't respond, she didn't know how. He was able to face this horrifying reality, and he wasn't afraid of what the end meant.

"Listen, I know this whole thing is really messed up, but if we work together, we can survive. I promise," Kirito said, offering her his hand. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do, but decided that it was in her best interest to at least go with him. "I'll make sure you get out of this alive, okay? I've had your back since the beta, and I'm not going to stop watching it now."

"Thank you," she said quietly, taking his hand with her right and wiping away her tears with her left. This was no time to mope about this, and this wasn't god being cruel to her for her past sins. No, it was Akihiko Kayaba's fault she was here, and she had to live long enough to see his game end.

"You coming Klein?" Kirito asked the man in red, to which he received an unsure look.

"I'd love to... but I have other friends here... and I need to make sure they are all still alive, you know?"

Kirito paused to think about his response for a moment. Sure, he could handle bringing both Sinon and Klein along, but he didn't know how many friends Klein had, not did he know their classes. He lowered his head, sad that he had to leave behind a truly good friend and ally. He didn't hang his head for long, and looked Klein dead in the eye.

"Alright. I better not hear you ended up dead later," he said, smirking at his recently acquired friend. The slightly scruffy man nodded.

"Same goes to you and Sinon. You two better keep each other alive, and you better treat me to the pizza I missed because of all of this."

Kirito laughed, before nodding. Without giving any further response, he looked at Sinon, and the two of them ran towards the nearest alleyway.

"Hey Kirito! Sinon!" Klein called out. The two of them stopped and turned to look at the man, confused as to what he could want. "I just want to tell you... you two are better suited for those faces instead of the ones your Avatars had!"

"Same goes to you!" Kritio called back, before the two of them took off running again. Sinon didn't bother say anything, since she was still lost in her thoughts about the situation at hand. She would be travelling with Kirito from here on out... until they broke free of this twisted reality.

[==={|======= Author's Note =======|}===]

There we have it, Chapter 2 of «NeuroBlade Online»! Wow, I was actually able to make good on my promise to have it done by today. There may be a few errors here and there, but I will go back and fix them later down the line, probably around the end of Act 1... unless I get a beta to help with it now... ahaha.

So yeah, the Death Game has officially started. I know my Kayaba seems a little out of character, but his way of speaking here is longer because Sci-fi likes exposition... at least the Sci-fi I've read. Also, if he seems a little more... confident in regards to his scheme here, that was intended. He is likely still high on the success of «SAO», which was the testing ground for his plans for «NBO». I know that doesn't make much sense now, but by the end of all of this, it should.

Also, the section where Group B (Asuna, Leafa, Yuuki) head back into town and very little happens, minus a look into my take of Yuuki's thought process was really all written to fill space... so if it feels a little awkward, my bad. I probably should have planned some of the scenes out a little better, but hey, sometimes you just have to make due with something you wrote to fill space.

Anyway, thanks to the all of the people who began following the story, and who will follow it after this is posted. Thanks for the Favorites and the Reviews as well, it really helps keep me motivated. I won't use reviews as a reason to make this though.

Speaking of reviews, time to address some of the reviews.

Reeves-san: Actually, the game is cyberpunk and sci-fi oriented. While Steampunk is an offshoot of cyberpunk, you are still somewhat incorrect on that note. I'm sure you will find the future for Sinon and Kazuto's relationship pleasing, but that's all I am going to say.

Worker72: Sugou isn't going to appear in this fic. When I eventually get to the sequel, he will more than likely be there... if I decide to write that sequel anyway.

Agent 94: Actually, the forum thread was made about a year ago... so NeuroBlade has been an idea for about a year and two months... As for bolding, that's not something I fancy using, and any system messages are _~inside these bits and are italicized~_ for a reason. Location description is noted though, and will likely be a more prominent thing next chapter, as will gear description. As for everyone being more familiar with VR games... that's something that plays a role later.

Tari J. Deiter: I will keep that in mind, thank you. I try not to repeat things, though in that instance it felt necessary.

Festus Flare: Yeah, this story technically happened because of us brainstorming for your fic. This isn't so much a response to your review as it is giving you a shout out.

Morli: I honestly will avoid saying much to you as a response, since I honestly think your review was hardly justified given that it was clear that you didn't read the summary of the fic first. It was actually quite insulting, and was far from being "helpful feedback".

Dechirures: Don't worry, there will be more people within the next few chapters to help balance that out. I have five other classes that I have yet to implement, but I hope you look forward to them.

With that done, I'm out. See you guys for Chapter 3! «Burst Out»!


End file.
